Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Monday he will be bringing more monoclonal antibody treatments to the state of Florida after applying pressure to the federal government.
In a news conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, DeSantis said the federal government had stopped sending monoclonal antibody treatments because it may not be as effective against the omicron variant of COVID-19. However, he said he did not see any reason for the treatment to be “sitting on the shelves,” and after pushing back, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Sunday that it would send the treatments.
“It may not be as good as it was against delta, but we obviously want to have that here for patients who want to be able to do it,” DeSantis said at the conference.
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DeSantis said one of the reasons he wanted to give people the option of monoclonal antibody treatments was because the delta variant of COVID-19 is still present. He said it is important for people to have options so both the delta and omicron variants can be treated.
Going forward, DeSantis said he will turn on additional testing sites in Florida as soon as the federal government gives them the supplies. He also said he intends to add 5-10 more sites if there is a demand. DeSantis stressed the fact that doing so is contingent on the federal government giving Florida what it needs.
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DeSantis said he does not know when the federal government will send home test kits for COVID-19. He said over 1,500 requests for such kits have been pushed out from Florida’s Division of Emergency Management to the federal government. In the meantime, DeSantis said Kevin Guthrie, the director of FDEM, has done his best to spread the limited supply to all the counties.
