PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Aug. 12 that he is launching a Rapid Response Team to dispense monoclonal antibodies to tackle Florida’s rising number of COVID-19 cases and reduce serious symptoms, preventing the potential for hospital overcrowding.
“This is probably the best thing that we can do to reduce the number of people that require hospitalization,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Jacksonville, adding that vaccines were strongly encouraged and were effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths by at least 70 percent.
“Clear benefits to this early treatment is keeping people out of the hospital and reducing mortality,” he said.
DeSantis noted the experimental monoclonal antibodies developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals were used by President Donald Trump after he contracted the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, in October 2020. Trump recovered in a matter of days.
A study released in April showed Regeneron’s antibody cocktail helped people recover faster after falling ill, and when given in the early stages, could prevent people from becoming sick with the virus.
Monoclonal antibody treatment is not well known, according to the governor, because it received federal emergency use authorization around the same time as the vaccines were being approved, and that the “focus rightfully was on vaccines at the time.” He said he felt that it was important to utilize this treatment alongside vaccines, and it was, in his opinion, “the most effective yet for people who are already infected.”
The Department of Health and Human Services website describes these monoclonal antibodies as “laboratory-produced molecules that may block the virus that causes COVID-19 from attaching to human cells, making it more difficult for the virus to reproduce and cause harm. These antibodies could help the immune system respond more effectively to the virus.”
For seniors—the most vulnerable population in Florida—Gov. DeSantis said he would be initiating “strike teams” to enter nursing homes that had had an outbreak and perform the antibody treatment on those who were exposed to COVID-19 to stop the spread.
