We are using them at Western, but we've been hamstrung by a couple of things. First of all, it's been very slow. There is one monoclonal available, which is bamlanivimab, a combination of monoclonals, which has just been approved by Health Canada but is still not available.
As we're getting more variants, we need these other options. They are available in the United States. They've been available for quite some time. They really help some people who are at risk of developing severe COVID due to severe underlying conditions.
They're not a panacea. They are difficult to administer, because they require IV therapy for people who are generally well at the time they need it but who are at risk of getting very sick.
We've found that it's extremely difficult to get a hold of, but the difficulties can be overcome. Health Canada's recent approval of the combination drug has quite honestly been very slow and very late. There are multiple other options available in the U.S. that are not being made available in Canada yet. With that development, we need rapid deployment of the drug so that people who need it can get it.
We also need the institution of infrastructure so that it can be administered on an outpatient basis rather than having patients come into the hospital to get it. Special outpatient facilities have been set up in the United States, which have enabled hundreds of thousands of people to be treated in the U.S. We do not yet have those in Canada.