Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis demanded between 30,000 and 40,000 doses of Covid-19 monoclonal antibody treatment Monday despite research showing that the only abundantly available treatments are ineffective against the omicron variant, which is surging in Florida.
DeSantis asked the government to reverse its pause on distributing antibody treatments manufactured by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, a decision undertaken after research showed that the treatments were ineffective against the omicron variant.
DeSantis claimed that Regeneron and Eli Lilly’s treatments had proven effective against the variant in Florida and dismissed the federal government’s decision as “based off some preliminary study,” a claim contradicted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and by Regeneron.
If given the additional doses, Desantis said Florida would be able to open five or 10 more antibody treatment sites to meet demand, supplementing the governor’s efforts to keep open treatment sites reportedly burdened by case spikes.
In Oklahoma, immunocompromised patients opted to isolate themselves at home in order to avoid Covid-19 infection as the state waited to receive 576 doses of AstraZeneca’s antibody treatment, which has been proven effective against omicron, KFOR-TV reported.
In New York, some hospitals reported running out of GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology’s omicron-effective antibody treatment December 21, and some Texas hospitals said they expected to run out by January 16.
Discover more from News Facts Network
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
