This treatment can protect vulnerable people from COVID. But many don’t know about it

Leanne Cook was glum but unsurprised when the tests confirmed what she and her doctors had expected: Even after three shots of a vaccine, she had no antibodies to protect her against COVID-19.

Her immune system had been hampered by the drugs she takes for her condition, a rare disease affecting her kidneys. As other vaccinated people began to let down their guard last year, Cook continued to minimize trips outside her home in Mission Viejo.

Then Cook heard about something that could plug those missing antibodies into her system — a preventive pair of injections called Evusheld. But health officials cautioned that there was only so much to go around.

Cook said that one medical provider told her, “‘We didn’t get any of this,’” she recalled. “And I’m like, ‘No, no, you guys got doses — I can see it on this website.’”

Cook ultimately secured the treatment in January, which finally gave her some antibodies to combat COVID-19 — and enough peace of mind to chance her first trip to a hair salon since the pandemic began. But it took networking, internet savvy and a costly consultation that landed her