Governor DeSantis is doing everything he can to ensure people who are compromised have as many tools as they can get in order to protect them from getting the virus. Today he announced that he’s making monoclonal antibodies available to people who have not been infected yet and need more protection:
DeSantis said they only have a limited supply of the antibodies right now so they tried to distribute it so that it was within two hours of everyone who needs it.
Here’s a bit more on this from WFLA:
Surrounded by medical professionals in Ocala, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo spoke at Ocala Regional Medical Center to discuss early treatment for COVID-19. The event included signs reading “Early Treatment Saves Lives,” a slogan used when the state launched its monoclonal antibody treatment sites in August as cases ramped up in Florida.
“Most recently, Dec. 8, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for a new product called Evusheld, and it’s AstraZeneca’s new monoclonal antibody product for pre-exposure prevention of COVID-19 for eligible populations 12 and older,” DeSantis said.
While the new product is different than the other monoclonal antibody treatments available, DeSantis said the treatment was a long-lasting, long-acting monoclonal therapy. He said clinical trials showed it reduced the risk of COVID infections “in the first instance” by 77%. Still, DeSantis said clinical trials were sometimes different than real-world use.
“If you look at Pfizer and their initial results saying 95% protection against infection, I don’t think anyone can look at what’s happened over the last six to eight months and say that it’s 95%,” DeSantis said. “So the immunity clearly wanes.” DeSantis said this was why boosters for COVID-19 vaccines were being pushed more.
The governor said the new treatment from AstraZeneca was for people who had not yet been exposed to COVID, and that were not infected.
“It’s something that you’re trying to provide some antibody protection for about a six month period of time, for the people that are specifically authorized to do the Evusheld are individuals who are immunocompromised and may not have adequate immune response to vaccination,” DeSantis said.
He said the Evusheld treatment was potentially better for people who may not be able to vaccinated or had other health concerns, where the vaccine was not recommended and where other treatments were needed instead. Still, the treatment is not for post-exposure COVID treatment according to DeSantis.
“Initially, we have a very limited allocation, it’s about 3,100 doses,” DeSantis said. “This initial allocation is going to go to hospitals and clinics that are already administering monoclonal antibody treatment to patients, including right here in Ocala. And the way we tried to allocate it was to say ‘can we get it within a two-hour drive of everyone in Florida.’”
For those in more rural areas, DeSantis said it might be a little harder to access but that the state is trying to make it more widely available. Information on where to receive the Evusheld treatment will be made available online from the Florida Department of Health, similar to accessing information about other monoclonal antibody treatments and vaccination sites across the state.
DeSantis said the state anticipates a higher caseload in January, but not as high as in other states, and that the state would “not indulge in any of the insanity” happening in other parts of the country over COVID-19 restrictions, like forced masking and forced vaccination, while still shutting down from “heavy-handed” policies.
The full livestream can be watched below: