Jared Evan
Florida Governor Ron De Santis claimed that President Biden is “bogarting” the therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies used to treat COVID patients at a press conference. At the same press conference, an anti-De Santis protester was arrested for confronting the governor.
The important statements are in the below video:
De Santis has not been the only leader to complain about the shortage of therapeutics.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo directly criticized the administration in a letter last Tuesday for “actively preventing” distribution of the treatments, noting they could be used in delta variant cases of the virus.
Breitbart highlighted last week:
“The sudden suspension of multiple monoclonal antibody therapy treatments from distribution to Florida removes a health care provider’s ability to decide the best treatment options for their patients in their state,” the letter read, criticizing the “shortsightedness” of the Biden administration.
The Department of Health and Human Services responded to Ladapo’s letter noting that the federal government would continue to provide some antibody treatments but did not specifically address reports of the shortages.
“The federal government has and will continue to supply Florida with treatments that can help improve patient outcomes, reduce stress on healthcare facilities, and save lives,” they said in a statement to Fox News.
In Fredericksburg, Virginia, shortages for the treatment have lead to clinic closures, denying access for people trying to fight the virus.
Texas is also experiencing shortages across the state, noting that since only the sotrovimab treatment is provided supplies have run short.
“The federal government controls the distribution of monoclonal antibodies, and the regional infusion centers in Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and The Woodlands have exhausted their supply of sotrovimab, the monoclonal antibody effective against the COVID-19 Omicron variant, due to the national shortage from the federal government,” the Texas Department of Health and Human Services noted in a statement
Oklahoma officials also announced that the “allocation of monoclonal antibodies has been insufficient to assure adequate supply moving forward” until future shipments in January.
Mississipi and Arkanas have also announced shortages as well as Michigan.
New Jersey hospitals are restricting use of the treatments for only patients who are most at risk.
The White House has not specifically addressed the widespread shortages but used the president’s social media accounts to remind Americans that vaccines are effective at producing antibodies.
“COVID-19 booster shots increase antibody levels by more than 20x — providing a high degree of protection against severe illness with Omicron,” Biden’s message read. “Get your shot today, folks.”
Meanwhile, the media was quick to pounce on the protestor being arrested, and no attention has been given to the Monoclonal Antibodies shortage. Governor De Santis has been a constant target of the mainstream media. It is a political miscalculation to arrest a protestor, instead of speaking for a moment with the individual and AP was quick to pounce,
AP reported:
A live video feed of the confrontation showed police handcuffing a protester and leading the rest of the group away after they refused to leave a state Health Department building in Jacksonville where the governor was set to hold a briefing.
“The governor is afraid to meet with the people,” said Ben Frazier, president and founder of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, as an officer handcuffed him. “When it comes to public welfare, this governor does not care.”
Frazier, 71, was taken away in the back of a police cruiser, according to a First Coast News reporter at the news conference. He was cited for trespassing and has been ordered to appear in court, according to records from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
In the video, the group could be seen sitting in the news briefing room waiting for DeSantis to arrive, saying they wanted to talk to the governor.
A man who said he was a facilities manager at the building told the activists they were trespassing and asked them to leave.
One must wonder if the protestor has any idea that the federal government is botching the availability of the antibodies, which could literally cost thousands of lives. While the misinformed protestor being removed is bad political optics, the real issues are the ones the governor is bringing up and based on recent polls, most Americans blame the pandemic failures on President Biden.
De Santis should have addressed the misinformed leftist activist, removing him did De Santis no favors and only allows the media to further a narrative of De Santis being a “cruel heatless leader”, while the opposite is actually true.
