Mississippi’s largest hospital system has now expanded its capabilities to offer more potentially life-saving treatment to more Mississippians who test positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is now accepting appointments for a monoclonal antibody (MAB) infusion clinic for COVID-19 patients, which opens Tuesday in the field hospital located in Parking Garage B, which is across from the adult and children’s emergency rooms.

Last October, then U.S. President Donald Trump received the monoclonal antibody treatment after he contracted the virus.

The clinic, operated by a federal team sent to Mississippi, will open at 8 a.m. Tuesday and will operate until at least August 24. It will operate from 8 a.m-8 p.m. every day of the week, with at least 40 appointment slots available each day.

“We know that monoclonal antibody treatments may help patients avoid progression of mild symptoms into severe disease requiring hospitalization or leading to death. The availability of this clinic offers UMMC another tool in combating the devastating effects of this pandemic and in alleviating the burden of the state’s hospital system,” said Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs and COVID-19 clinical response leader.

The clinic will only be administering MAB treatments to those who are COVID-19 positive with mild to moderate symptoms and meet qualifying criteria. A full list of criteria can be found here.

Individuals must have an appointment before arriving at the clinic. The website for initial screening and linkage to appointment scheduling is here: https://covidmabtreatment.umc.edu/.

UMMC, in conjunction with the Mississippi State Department of Health, is developing a phone-based appointment system. Additional information on the call system will be released upon completion of the project.

Individuals who screen as eligible to receive MAB based upon their responses to a series of qualifying questions will be able to schedule an appointment from a list of available appointment dates and times. Eligible patients should schedule an appointment date that is no more than 10 days from symptom onset.

Patients must bring proof of a recent positive COVID-19 test to their appointment. Only the patient will be allowed in the treatment and post-treatment monitoring area. Patients will be re-screened by a clinical team member at their appointment to ensure they meet qualifying criteria and that they are not too sick to receive treatment. MAB treatment will be administered in the form of either an IV or shots. Patients should anticipate the appointment lasting up to three hours, to allow time for registration, preparation and administration of treatment, as well as post-treatment monitoring time.