Texas Governor Greg Abbott defied President Joe Biden on Monday when he confirmed the direct purchase of monoclonal antibody treatments to circumvent federal restrictions.
“EXCLUSIVE: [Gov. Greg Abbott] says Texas is bypassing Biden admin’s restriction on monoclonal antibody treatments by procuring them direct from the provider,” radio host Dana Loesch posted on social media to make public the aware of the deal.
The Daily Wire reports Austin Bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News, Bob Garrett, quickly followed.
He further detailed, “[Gov. Greg Abbott] says Texas has obtained its own supply of Regeneron, despite roadblocks from Biden administration, from drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen. State purchasing directly, Abbott tells [Dana Loesch]. ‘Consider this treatment,’ he tells people testing + for #COVID19.”
The need for the buy arose after the Biden administration set limits on what states can and cannot purchase in the way of such treatments. As Breitbart News reported, limits were imposed…
… to cut the distribution of monoclonal antibodies to red states, such as Florida and Alabama, contending those states, including Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Louisiana, are comprising too big a share of the supply in recent weeks — 70 percent.
The White House said the Biden administration’s policy was to make the distribution of monoclonal antibodies more “equitable” by acting to interfere in the open market.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also purchased monoclonal antibody treatments for his state.
Last week he said Florida will receive approximately 3,000 doses of the GlaxoSmithKline antibody treatment product, sutrovimab.
The product will serve as a supplement for shortages in the Regeneron supply for the state of Florida, which will receive a shipment of 18,000 treatments from the federal government this month, according to NBC Miami.