DeSantis Promises to “Fight Like Hell” Over COVID-19 Treatment

TALLAHASSEE – While Florida attempts to deliver 100,000 monoclonal antibody treatments to people with COVID-19, Governor Ron DeSantis promised Thursday to “fight like hell” to continue receiving treatments as the federal government took control of the distribution of the drugs this week Drugs.

The US Department of Health reported on its website Monday that the agency had “moved from a direct ordering process to a state / territory-coordinated distribution system” and said the change will “give health authorities maximum flexibility to receive them”. critical medication where it is needed most. “

A handful of states, including Florida, have received the majority of the treatments currently available, according to White House officials.

But the federal health department is now assigning a weekly distribution, “based on weekly reports of new COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions in addition to inventory and usage data,” submitted by states to the federal government, HHS officials said.

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Florida will be capped this week to 27,850 doses of the monoclonal antibody treatment Regeneron and 3,100 doses of treatments developed by drug company Eli Lilly, according to federal health officials.

The treatment breakdown in Florida represents the largest proportion of any state, with Texas ranking second with 21,720 doses of Regeneron and 2,370 doses of Eli Lilly treatments this week.

But DeSantis, who regularly engages with President Joe Biden’s administration about strategies to contain COVID-19, said Thursday that the federal government is putting “obstacles” in place on the state receiving the drugs that the governor is deemed effective early on Treatment to combat the virus has touted.

“Just last week, on September 9th, President Joe Biden said his administration would increase monoclonal antibody shipments by 50 percent in September. Yet HHS announced on September 13th that it would take control of the supply of monoclonal antibodies and control the distribution, ”DeSantis told reporters during a news conference in Broward County Thursday.

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Biden’s plan to fight COVID-19, dubbed the “Path Out of the Pandemic,” partially promises to “increase the average weekly pace of free monoclonal antibody treatment shipments to states” by an additional 50 percent in September.

The Biden government reported that it shipped about 100,000 doses of the treatments weekly in July and August. The weekly distribution numbers released by HHS on Monday said the federal government distributed 176,460 treatments to states this week.

But DeSantis told reporters Thursday that the White House’s plan to act as a distributor for monoclonal antibody treatments will result in fewer therapeutics entering the state.

“We are suddenly faced with a massive, massive cut in treatment with monoclonal antibodies. Shortly after the president announced a 50 percent increase, we are now seeing a cut of more than 50 percent for the state of Florida. So we’re going to fight like hell to make sure our people get what they need, ”DeSantis said.

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The governor indicated that the fight to continue treatment for treatments could include buying direct from pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, which currently has a monoclonal antibody treatment that has received emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. DeSantis had a phone call with GlaxoSmithKline executives on Wednesday.

“You (GlaxoSmithKline) do not have a direct sales contract with the federal government. The federal government bought all of the Regeneron, ”DeSantis said. “Therefore we (Regeneron) cannot buy directly.”

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday that the federal government’s monoclonal antibody distribution plan is aimed at achieving “justice” among the states that receive them.

“Only seven states account for 70 percent of the orders. Our offer is not unlimited and we believe it should be fair in all states, ”Psaki said during a press conference. “I think our role as the government overseeing the entire country is to be fair in the distribution. We’re not going to give Florida a bigger share than Oklahoma. “

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Biden said Thursday that his administration has faced “a lot of resistance”, particularly from Republican governors – including DeSantis – who have resisted mandates such as vaccination regulations for some private and state employees.

“The governors of Florida and Texas are doing everything they can to undermine the lifesaving requirements I propose,” he told reporters.