DeSantis Team: More than Half of Those Seeking Lifesaving Coronavirus Treatment ‘Fully Vaccinated’

More than half of the individuals seeking life-saving monoclonal antibody treatment are “fully vaccinated” individuals — news that comes as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Biden administration cut the supply of the treatment to Southern states.

“Florida is above average in vaccination rate. More than half of the patients in south Florida getting monoclonal antibody treatment are vaccinated and have breakthrough infections. Vaccinated or unvaccinated -Denying treatment to Covid patients is wrong,” DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw said on Thursday following the governor’s press conference, where he vowed to “work like hell” to get people the antibody treatment they need, regardless of the Biden administration’s actions.

On Friday, responding to critics, Pushaw reiterated that “[m]ore than half the patients getting the monoclonal antibody treatment in south Florida are fully vaccinated,” debunking the left-wing narrative that it is unvaccinated individuals, primarily, in the Sunshine State who are the primary reason for the demand:

This week, the Biden administration and HHS announced plans to slash the supply of the lifesaving treatment, citing the need for “equitable distribution.” Yet, last week, President Joe Biden promised to “increase the average pace of shipment across the country of free monoclonal antibody treatments by another 50 percent.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) addressed the administration’s “very, very problematic” decision during a press conference on Thursday, warning it will hurt patients. He ultimately said his administration will “work like hell” to make sure people get the treatment they need, despite Biden’s cuts. He also told reporters that he already spoke to GlaxoSmithKline executives, expressing hope the state will be able to order treatments directly from the company.

“The clinical data on that was even better than the clinical data on Regeneron – 85 percent reduction in hospitalizations,” DeSantis said.

“It is not approved for subcutaneous injections, so if we get it, and we use it at our sites, we have to expand the amount of IV treatments that are available, which we are going to be willing to do,” he said, noting it does not have a purchasing agreement with the federal government, as Regeneron does.

“The federal government has bought all the Regeneron. They just upped it for another shipment. We are not able to buy it directly from Regeneron,” DeSantis added.

Biden, however, has continued to complain about Republican governors such as DeSantis and Greg Abbott (R-TX), asserting they are “doing everything they can to undermine the life-saving requirements that I have proposed.” Yet, it is his administration slashing lifesaving treatments from Southern states. In fact, his administration sent less than half the needed doses to Florida this week alone.

The move follows Biden’s divisive coronavirus speech this month, where he vowed to use his power as president to get certain governors opposing his edicts “out of the way.”