One long-term benefit of President Donald Trump’s term in office is that Americans became accustomed to seeing state governors outright rejecting presidential proposals very robustly and very publicly.
Turnabout is fair play, and Biden is now enjoying the fruits of the tree the Democrats planted and nurtured for four years.
I recently noted that the Biden Administration was planning to take over nationwide distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments. Ostensibly, officials say, it is in the name of equity, as 70% of those treatments have gone to red states.
Furthermore, Governor Ron DeSantis has had a great deal of success opening up clinics across Florida to help promote early treatment.
It appears Team Biden did not count on DeSantis’ tenacity or capitalism. The feds simply bought up all the Regeneron.
It turns out there are other monoclonal antibody treatments, and DeSantis is pursing those products.
DeSantis called the change a raw deal and vowed to work directly with drug company GlaxoSmithKline to circumvent federal officials by purchasing its monoclonal treatment, Sotrovimab.”The federal government has bought all the Regeneron,” DeSantis said. “We are not able to buy it directly from Regeneron given that. We do think we can order some Sotrovimab and we will do that if we can.”The governor has opened 25 monoclonal sites in the Sunshine State. His office has said Florida needs about 72,000 doses weekly to meet demand. This week’s allotment is less than half that — about 31,000.
DeSantis is also reconsidering an Eli Lilly product.
The Governor has spent more than a month in a hard push to promote Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment. Despite previously downplaying Eli Lilly’s version for not being as effective against the delta variant, DeSantis was more optimistic about the option on Tuesday as he spoke in St. Cloud….Florida chose Regeneron over other options, DeSantis has said, because the federal government has made it free for states and hospitals to draw down, because it can be administered with a shot, and because it provides better results than others against the delta variant, which was largely responsible for this summer’s record-breaking surge.Eli Lilly’s version is available through the federal government again, and DeSantis said GlaxoSmithKline’s formula is on the market.Each state-run monoclonal antibody treatment site can offer the therapy to more than 300 people daily. Wait lists at some sites are now days long despite the treatment being more effective the earlier someone receives it. Having other treatments would help increase supply even though they must be administered through an IV, which takes longer.
Of course, don’t underestimate Biden’s ability to mess things up.
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