Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced that his administration will purchase monoclonal antibody treatments directly from the manufacturer to circumvent President Biden’s tyrannical efforts to restrict their distribution.
DeSantis has been an outspoken proponent of the monoclonal antibodies, which have shown significant promise in reducing the effectives of COVID-19 and preventing hospitalization when the drugs are administered early in the onset of the virus. According to the Tampa Bay Times, high-risk patients who are given the treatment were “a third as likely to be hospitalized as similar patients given a placebo.”
Regeneron was the first manufacturer to get FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization to administer its antibody treatment. In the final days of the Trump administration, the company agreed to sell its entire stock of the monoclonal antibody treatments to the federal government, empowering the government to decide how the treatments are supplied. The Biden administration has announced it would be restricting supplies to the states who have been ordering large quantities of the treatments.
DeSantis set a goal of opening 15 to 20 monoclonal antibody sites across the state to serve up to 300 patients per day. But Biden’s newly announced policy to allot the drugs based on usage numbers and case rates will make that even more difficult.
“Just last week on September 9th, President Joe Biden said that his administration would be increasing shipments of monoclonal antibodies in September by 50%, and yet on September 13th, HHS announced that it was seizing control of the monoclonal antibody supply and that it would control distribution, and then on September 14th, the announcement was more than 50% of the monoclonal antibodies that had been used in Florida were going to be reduced,” DeSantis said.
“What the HHS and the Biden administration is now doing is they’re saying that all of the reduced amount will go to the state, and we’re responsible not only for sourcing our sites, which we’re happy to do, but any infusion center, any provider, any hospital will have to come through the state, and to just spring this on us starting next week, we’re going to have to do that,” DeSantis continued. “There’s going to be a huge disruption and patients are going to suffer as a result of this.”
Other states have also voiced concerns about Biden’s restrictions. Forbes reported that the Medical Association of the State of Alabama said it was “very concerned” about the federal government limiting the treatment supply, asserting in a statement that the government should be looking to “provide more of this treatment, not less” when Alabama’s hospitals are already under enormous strain.
“Many patients who receive monoclonal antibody treatment report feeling better within 24 to 48 hours,” Alabama Medical Association President Dr. Aruna Arora said in the statement. “Monoclonal antibody treatment is not a substitute for COVID vaccinations. However, if someone does test positive for COVID-19, they should immediately talk to a physician and see if they qualify for monoclonal antibody treatment. It can be a life-saver.”
In Tennessee, patients are being turned away “due to lack of clarity on when treatment will be available,” the state’s Department of Health said.
Critics of Biden’s move contend he is doing so to punish states that oppose his administration’s mandates.
“Antibody treatments aren’t a substitute for vaccines But they have prevented thousands of hospitalizations including in breakthrough cases,” Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) posted on Twitter. “Now in a move that reeks of partisan payback against states like Florida, the Biden administration is rationing these treatments.”
HHS said states with low vaccination rates that have been placing large orders of the antibody treatments must reduce their orders by 30 percent. The announcement prompted Kentucky’s Democratic Governor Andy Beshear to warn “vaccine hesitant” residents that they should not rely on the availability of the monoclonal antibody treatments.
“What this shortage ought to tell you is that if you’re unvaccinated and you get really sick, not only might there not be a bed in the hospital for you because they are so full, but that monoclonal antibody treatment might not be there for you either,” Beshear said.
These are exactly the fear tactics Democrats have been using to force their vaccine agenda on Americans. The federal government is cutting the supply seemingly to push more Americans to get the vaccine. Biden admitted as much this week when he said, regarding the vaccines, “The governors of Florida and Texas are doing everything they can to undermine the life-saving requirement that I proposed.” It’s no coincidence that those are two of the seven states affected by the new restrictions. And it is despicable.
Fortunately, as other manufacturers have since developed similar monoclonal antibodies, Governor DeSantis hopes to work directly with them to circumvent the Biden administration’s restrictions. DeSantis said his office will “work like hell to make sure” that Florida can “overcome the obstacles that the HHS and the Biden administration” are imposing on the state. He said he will be ordering the monoclonal antibody directly from GlaxoSmithKline.
According to Tom Hladish, research scientist at the University of Florida’s Department of Biology and the Emerging Pathogens Institute, DeSantis’ widespread treatment campaign would make tremendous strides in reducing the pressure on state hospitals.
”That’s not trivial,” Hladish said. “Every bed that you free up in an ICU when you’re close to capacity, you’re saving people who are injured in car accidents.”
