Ron DeSantis credits feds for monoclonal antibody, vaccine rollout

Image via AP.

Gov. Ron DeSantis credits the federal government with making monoclonal antibody treatment and vaccines available to those who want it in the fight against COVID-19.

The Governor lauded the federal government for fast-tracking vaccine production last year. And without naming former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden, with whom he has frequently locked horns, he praised the government for buying up monoclonal antibodies and quickly distributing that treatment to Florida when the state requests it.

“You’ve got to give credit where credit’s due,” DeSantis said, “because these things can easily get swamped in bureaucracy.”

The Trump administration bought Regeneron’s entire supply of their monoclonal antibody drug in January, making it free to those who take it. Trump received monoclonal antibodies in October when he was treated for COVID-19, promoting it as a “miracle” and a “cure.”

However, the injectable therapeutic has since largely fallen out of the public’s view. DeSantis has spent much of this month on a public awareness campaign to promote monoclonal antibodies, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved for people at high risk for severe infection when they test positive for COVID-19 or are exposed to the virus.

The Governor says the stockpile has been “relatively underutilized” despite being free to patients and the state.

“Right now, we can order 10,000 doses every crack we want, and they get here within 24 hours,” DeSantis said.

Treating people early can help keep them out of hospitals, which are filling up again as the delta variant resurges across the country, particularly in Florida.

“We want to fill the slots. We want to take as much burden off the health systems as we can,” DeSantis said.

Operation Warp Speed, started under the Trump administration, was a partnership between the federal government and the medical industry to fast track COVID-19 vaccine production. That program could have been a logistical disaster, the Governor said.

“Starting with Warp Speed, and then now, a lot of this stuff that the feds have helped with, they have done a good job of getting us, by and large, what we need,” DeSantis said.

Like the vaccine rollout, the state’s monoclonal antibody rollout has not been spotless. A picture circulating on social media shows a woman lying on the floor of a Jacksonville library while awaiting treatment.

On Friday, DeSantis said the state has been able to scale up the program at some sites, like one in Broward County, where the demand calls for it.

Moreover, critics argue DeSantis has promoted treatment over vaccines this month by touting the drug cocktail. But he said it’s not a question of treatment versus vaccines but that both are important, particularly as there are more breakthrough cases. He spent much of the first half of the year crisscrossing the state to promote vaccines.

DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, attacked The Associated Press Tuesday evening for publishing a story highlighting that the CEO of Citadel, a hedge fund with Regeneron shares, has donated $10.75 million to the DeSantis campaign since 2018.

Citadel’s investment in Regeneron is a tiny fraction of its overall $39 billion in investments, but Citadel would benefit if the stock price increased. Pushaw noted that Citadel has far greater investments in Moderna and Pfizer, which manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. And Kirby Wilson of the Tampa Bay Times reported that it doesn’t benefit Regeneron for the Governor to promote it.

But the relationship has generated a buzz on social media, as Democrats question the relationship.

“Claiming that there is somehow ‘corruption’ by promoting the baseless political narrative that Gov. DeSantis supports Regeneron over COVID vaccines (completely false, but that is another topic) is not even logically consistent when you examine the SEC filing,” Pushaw said in an email. “Citadel holds far more shares of Pfizer and Moderna than Regeneron.”

Some critics have also started promoting the treatment. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who earlier this week said DeSantis cost the state by promoting treatment rather than prevention, helped open a Regeneron drug treatment center.