Officials in states with skyrocketing hospitalizations due to the COVID-19 delta variant have touted underutilized monoclonal antibody treatments as the best way to avoid serious illness. Still, they stand by their decisions to ban vaccine mandates.
The treatment was given to former President Donald Trump when he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October 2020. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who tested positive after getting vaccinated, was also prescribed the treatment earlier this month. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, also touted the treatment’s efficacy, saying on Tuesday the risk of hospitalization or death due to COVID-19 could decrease by 70%-85%.
“This monoclonal treatment is probably one of the best ways to be able to [prevent serious illness], it’s important to do it early, though,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Thursday. “If you wait till you’re very, very ill and in need of hospital admission or intensive care, these antibodies at that point probably have missed their window to really nuke this.”
The state opened 21 sites where people exposed to COVID-19 can receive the monoclonal antibody treatment, a lab-made protein that mimics the body’s immune response to the coronavirus, free of charge. It is given to a patient intravenously within 10 days of testing positive before they become seriously ill and require hospitalization.
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DeSantis, a staunch opponent of mask and vaccine mandates, has expanded state-sponsored treatment sites this month as Florida hospitals have been pushed to their limits trying to keep up with waves of COVID-19 patients, the vast majority unvaccinated.
“We’re doing thousands [of antibody treatments] every day. Just think, a lot of those folks … would have needed to be admitted to a hospital had they not had access to that treatment,” DeSantis said. “It also makes sure that you’re not having admissions that continue to explode, that takes a lot of stress off the hospital.”
Over 28% of hospital beds in Florida are currently occupied by COVID-19 patients, more than any other state, and nearly 95% of hospital ICU beds are in use, according to federal data.
Meanwhile, Gov. Abbott announced Friday the state now has 13 monoclonal antibody treatment sites across the state, which is also dealing with surges in severe cases caused by the delta variant. Of the nearly 7,600 beds in Texas ICUs, nearly 94% of them are occupied. To help hospitals deal with the influx of unvaccinated patients, Abbott directed the state health department to send 8,100 medical personnel to healthcare facilities in Texas, including hospitals and nursing homes.
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The treatment has been granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent severe coronavirus infection, but doctors have continued to push people to get vaccinated if they are eligible.
Most of the states contending with the worst of the delta outbreak — such as Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama — have relatively low vaccine rates compared with states in the Northeast and the West Coast. Less than 50% of Texans have been fully vaccinated. Less than 41% of people have been fully vaccinated in Louisiana, and Alabama has vaccinated about 37%.
Florida has vaccinated nearly 52% of the population — an overall vaccination rate on par with several other states. Still, the state has one of the country’s highest per capita case counts, with 105 confirmed cases per 100,000 persons.
