ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held another event to promote Regeneron treatments for COVID-19 on Monday, unveiling a new clinic at Camping World Stadium in Orlando amid the surge in cases and hospitalizations in the state.
Asked why he hasn’t been promoting vaccinations with the same enthusiasm he has for the monoclonal antibody treatment, DeSantis downplayed the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing the spread of the virus and said “our entire vulnerable population has basically been vaccinated.”
“Even though we’ve done all the nursing homes, for example, we still see people that are testing positive in the nursing homes,” DeSantis said. “So yeah, they’re vaccinated. That’s great. That was the right thing to do. I do think it reduced for at least a few months the number of infections in nursing homes. But it’s not just Florida, you’re seeing now more people are testing positive. So then what do you do?”
Florida reported 15,962 hospitalizations Monday, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, along with 25,991 new cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday.
DeSantis held his second event since Friday promoting the use of Regeneron, an antibody cocktail that received emergency FDA approval to treat those with the coronavirus late last year.
It was used to treat former President Donald Trump when he was sick with COVID-19 in October, with Trump later declaring a “cure.”
The Camping World site, DeSantis said, is now open seven days a week for as many as 320 treatments a day. Those who have tested positive can schedule an appointment on patientportalfl.com, and a prescription is not necessary following state Surgeon General Scott Rivkees’ standing order last week.
“This has been shown to dramatically reduce the likelihood that you’re admitted into the hospital,” DeSantis said. With vaccinations and Regeneron, “It’s not an either/or. You want to do both. If you’re vaccinated [and] you’re high risk, you still may want to get this treatment. Obviously, if you’re not vaccinated, and you’re high risk and you get infected, you want to get the treatment.”
The Orlando site is the second in the state following one that opened last week in Jacksonville.
As for why he wasn’t holding vaccination events, DeSantis pointed to the many he held over the winter and into the spring, saying “no governor did more public events.” He has not held an event specifically promoting vaccines since May, however, the same day he announced a ban on businesses requiring so-called “vaccination passports.”
DeSantis was criticized by some anti-vaccination activists when he made remarks in favor of vaccines in June. A spokesperson called such criticism “clickbait,” according to Politico.
Of late, he’s talked about how vaccines weren’t as successful at preventing transmission as previously thought, though they were successful in preventing severe illness and hospitalization.
“The vaccines are helping to reduce severe outcomes, not protecting against transmission to the extent that we had hoped,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also said the Regeneron treatments, which usually cost between $1,500 and $6,500, according to CBS News, will not cost the state any money.
“The Trump administration basically just bought out all of the monoclonal antibodies once they were being developed,” DeSantis said. “So it does not cost the state of Florida any money to get here. And it does not cost the patients any money to receive it.”
Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani criticized DeSantis, arguing that while the governor is “not a full-blown anti-vaxxer, it’s like he doesn’t want to upset those who don’t support the vaccine.”
DeSantis “was almost waving a ‘mission accomplished’ banner a few months ago, and he’s now finding himself in a situation where he’s trying to normalize the current hospitalization rates by promoting a treatment versus promoting prevention,” Eskamani said. “It’s more ‘when you get sick’ versus preventing you from getting sick.”
