Yesterday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that he held a roundtable discussion with doctors and patients who recently received monoclonal antibody treatments. The point of the roundtable was to highlight the treatment’s effectiveness after the federal government ended the treatment’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
DeSantis said that his view is that Floridians want the treatment to be available for doctors to have in the event that they would find it useful.
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The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) announced they will be opening additional monoclonal treatment sites after the federal government delivered its most recent shipment of treatment kits. Approximately 15,000 doses will become available in Duval, Seminole, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade County sites.
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A headline in the Tampa Bay Times last week said that “Florida ordered 90,000 child vaccine doses. Texas ordered 1 million.” However, a reading of the story reveals the headline does not match the facts included in the article.
The headline appeared to be written to imply Florida did not order enough vaccine doses for children relative to other states, like Texas and California. The first paragraph of the story continues this narrative. The writers note, the 90,000 doses are “enough to fully vaccinate 3 percent of Florida’s approximately 1.7 million children ages 5 to 11.”
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The CEO of Tampa General Hospital has gone on the offensive, criticizing the President Joe Biden administration’s decision to ration monoclonal antibody treatments to states like Florida. The Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) announced they will be handling the nationwide distribution of the treatments, earning much criticism from Florida officials who have been implementing the treatment for months.
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Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has indicated her opposition to President Joe Biden administration’s decision to limit the amount of monoclonal treatment therapies being sent to Florida.
The Biden Administration, lead by the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), announced last week they will be taking over the distribution of the treatments and rationing the amount of treatments states like Florida can receive. The treatment will be allotted on an “equitable distribution” basis.
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For weeks, Florida has been seeing a consistent decline in COVID-related hospitalizations. As of Thursday, Florida has a total of 9,917 confirmed hospitalizations, according to the Florida Hospital Association (FHA) through the Department of Health and Human Services.
Over the last seven days, Florida has seen a 19 percent decrease in hospitalizations and approximately a 32 percent decrease over a 14-day average.
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After his administration bashed President Biden for cutting the supply of monoclonal antibody treatments (mAB’s) being sent to Florida, DeSantis sent a mass email to his supporters Thursday night to encourage them to help “fight back” by way of donation.
The email comes hours after data analyst for the Governor’s Office, Kyle Lamb, tweeted a statement from DeSantis that said, “‘We’re going to work like hell to overcome the restrictions and obstacles the HHS and Biden administration have put on us (with mABs distribution).'”
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The administration for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has blasted President Joe Biden for capping the amount of monoclonal antibody treatments states like Florida can receive. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken over the national distribution of the treatments.
The HHS says their leadership will provide “equitable distribution” and “with consistent, fairly distributed supply over the coming weeks.” However, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, said the move by the Biden administration was “regrettable.”
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The Florida Hospital Association President Mary Mayhew said she has been encouraged with the latest trends regarding COVID in Florida.
Mayhew appeared on MSNBC last week and said she is hopeful given the drop in hospitalization numbers.
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Floridians hospitalized for COVID has decreased for a fourth day in a row, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data.
The data shows Florida’s hospitals are taking care of 15,778 COVID patients which accounts for only 27.5 percent of all Floridians hospitalized. Similarly, Florida’s ICU’s are helping 3,477 COVID patients, which was over 200 less COVID patients than Thursday, last week.
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In Jacksonville and Ocala, Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment sites are seeing hundreds of people receive the therapy, and it is proving successful in its early treatment phase.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been pushing for the use of the treatment for COVID patients early in their infection. The design is to receive the monoclonal treatment before serious symptoms kick in.
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Last week, the Associated Press (AP) published a story regarding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his push for monoclonal antibody treatment, which is sold by Regeneron. In the wake of the article, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, found her Twitter account suspended for allegedly “harassing” the reporter who broke the AP story.
In the original article, Brendan Farrington, who wrote the piece, noted Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund, owns over $15 million of Regeneron. The CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin, is a multi-million-dollar donor to the DeSantis campaign.
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With the increase in cases and hospitalizations, many are calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to re-enact Florida’s COVID state of emergency.
DeSantis initially issued the state of emergency declaration on March 9, 2020 and extended it for over one year. DeSantis opted to not renew it in June, making June 26, 2021, the end of the declaration. The 476-day state of emergency was the longest in Florida’s history.
Governor DeSantis expressed his support for Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment Thursday, as COVID cases and the number of hospitalizations continue to surge in Florida.
According to DeSantis, “These treatments have been proven successful, with clinical trials resulting in a 70% reduction in hospitalization and death for COVID patients,” especially those who have higher risk for severe complications due to age or preexisting medical conditions.
As reported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful antigens such as viruses.” The treatment is meant for individuals who have tested positive or recovered from COVID.
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