Skip to main content

As cases increase, Republican governors are opting for Covid cocktails over masks.

U.S. -- Despite resistance to vaccine and mask laws, the governors of Florida, Missouri and Texas are committing millions of dollars to antibody therapy for those infected, arguing they could potentially keep patients with mild symptoms hospitals inundated with new cases. However, the treatment, as well as the cost of providing it, costs thousands of dollars more than preventive vaccination and is difficult to administer because it works best in the early stages of infection.

The governors 'urge to take medication has angered health officials and some in the Biden administration, who argue that the governors' attitude indicates that Covid-19 can be treated like a common cold. They note that treatments such as the Regeneron antibody cocktail given to former President Donald Trump during his illness are important, but they are only part of a limited arsenal to prevent hospitalization or death of patients. , it is not a decisive factor that can help end the pandemic.



"These leaders must also promote the strictest public health guidelines for what we know to work to protect people from the virus, not just to cure disease," said an unauthorized administration official on the matter. .

In his speech on the pandemic response on Wednesday, President Joe Biden stressed the importance of prevention, saying: “We have two important ways of protecting ourselves against Covid-19: there is only one the only safe, free and effective vaccine. , there are masks. Vaccines are the best protection, but masks can help too. “Biden took the opportunity to demand a Covid-19 vaccination for workers at federally funded nursing homes and deepen his feud with Republican states over the rules for school masks.

Either way, officials in red are promoting antibody therapy. The Florida surgeon general on Monday cleared a generic prescription for the Regeneron combination, allowing anyone in the state to get it without a doctor's approval.

The federal government paid $ 2,100 for each dose of over 1.5 million doses of Regeneron. Patients are not billed for drugs, but the state must pay for the establishment and staffing of drug distribution points.

Greg Abbott of Texas, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday and was treated with the Regeneron combination, announced the opening of nine new antibody infusion centers last week, saying they would reduce hospitalizations.

Additionally, Missouri intends to invest $ 15 million from the CARES Act to open and staff at least five new infusion centers across the state.

The three governors called on residents to get vaccinated, while downplaying the usefulness of other mitigation measures such as masks and isolation and eliminating mandatory vaccines. While those two states currently account for more than a third of the nation's Covid hospitalizations, Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are defending his ban on school masks in court.

“There is no point in hampering the science and unequivocal public health advice of all the doctors, nurses and non-mad professionals in this country,” said Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. we're talking about [infusion] facilities that we can avoid if we get people immunized. "

The White House has pushed states with low vaccination rates and a growing number of cases to use these drugs, but only as an adjunct to preventing human disease. The antibodies are usually given in an infusion set and the treatment can take several hours. Some hospitals need to build other sites or temporary structures to complete the work.

DeSantis said on Wednesday that vaccinations reduce the risk of serious illness, but breakthrough infections are "not uncommon."

His spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, said the governor never intended to consider antibody therapy a substitute for vaccines and had participated in hundreds of immunization promotion events. She went on to say that while most people are aware of the vaccine, they may not be aware of antibody therapy, so the governor felt it necessary to raise the issue.

She said: "Governor DeSantis makes decisions based on data and follows science." “Those who attack him for expanding access to life-saving treatments for Covid-19 put politics above public health, putting lives at risk. Treatment with monoclonal antibodies is not and should not be controversial. "

DeSantis, on the other hand, was one of the more outspoken government officials, saying fears about the virus were overblown. He played with Biden due to Covid restrictions, sued to prevent cruise lines from requiring vaccinations, sold items mocking Biden's chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci, and argued he there was no empirical evidence that the mask requires work to stop proliferation. Covid-19 - or that the benefits of a school mask outweigh the risks.

Several studies have shown that masks reduce transmission indoors, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend wearing them in schools regardless of vaccination status.

Monoclonal antibodies are increasingly seen as the last and best hope for saving the healthcare system in areas where vaccination rates are low and masks are still frowned upon.

Mississippi health worker Thomas Dobbs issued a standing order on Sunday allowing anyone in the state to seek medical attention, even if they do not have a doctor. Alabama doctors are relying on monoclonal antibodies to keep the healthcare system afloat as there are no more intensive care beds left.

Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Pearcey told reporters on Monday that hospitals are already overwhelmed and people need to reap the benefits of monoclonal antibodies.

“It has always amazed me how few people know this,” she said.

While most people think these treatments are vital, some public health professionals fear their promotion may help spread the idea that only immunocompromised patients need an injection or a mask.

Another problem, according to Markus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territory Health Organizations, is that people can spread the infection before they realize they need treatment.

"If this is our strategy, we will not be able to stop the pandemic anytime soon," he warned.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Taliban's medieval justice: The corpses of three 'criminals' are hoisted from diggers in Herat after they 'invaded another man's home and tried to rob him' in Afghanistan

The bodies of three alleged criminals were hung from diggers in Afghanistan by the Taliban, harrowing pictures released today show. According to deputy governor Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir, the three men were killed by another man when they entered his home in Obe district in Herat province. In the graphic images shared on social media, the corpses are shown publicly hoisted into the air and hanging by their necks from the raised arms of two diggers as people below watch on and take photographs. Tuesday's gruesome publicly display is yet another example of the kind of practices that feed international concern that the Taliban have returned to their brutal ways last seen when they were in control of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. This is despite the Taliban frequently insisting to the world that it has changed from the hard-line Islamic group that doled out brutal punishments to criminals and greatly restricted the rights of the country's citizens, particularly women and girls. P...

Gambino family underboss dies in prison from 'health issues' at the age of 89: Daughter 'rushed to be by her father's side and he sang Frank Sinatra as he took his last breath'

Frank LoCascio, the Dapper Don's former underboss and acting consigliere, passed away Friday after serving 31 years of a life sentence A Gambino crime family underboss who stayed loyal to John Gotti even as the pair were hit with life sentences during a 1992 murder and racketeering trial has died in prison at age 89. Frank LoCascio, the Dapper Don's former underboss and acting consigliere, passed away Friday at the Federal Medical Center, Devens - a facility that houses federal prisoners with health issues - in Massachusetts. His daughter, Lisa LoCascio, was by his side as he took his last breaths.  LoCascio had been incarcerated for 31 years before his death last week after famously refusing to snitch on notorious mob boss Gotti during their infamous and highly publicized trial.  What's more, the high-ranking mafioso managed to cheat death during his three decades in the pen even with Gotti as his enemy, after the Teflon Don turned on him and put a 'contract' on hi...

The Texas abortion ban sends mixed signals about the future of Roe v. Wade.

Legal experts say it is still unclear how the Supreme Court will rule on long-standing abortion guarantees, which it plans to review later this year. Despite uproar from activist organizations that see the move as a de facto departure from the 1973 ruling, the Supreme Court's failure to act on Texas's near-total abortion ban does not necessarily mean Roe v. Wade is dead. Legal experts say it is unclear how the Supreme Court will rule on long-standing guarantees for abortion, which it plans to review later this year when it hears a direct appeal against this important ruling. Texas' first-of-its-kind law allows individuals, not the government, to impose a six-week ban on abortion and file lawsuits against health professionals or anyone who helps someone get an abortion. Clinics and other potential claimants will find it more difficult to establish their position in court or to determine a specific target for satisfying claims due to the unusual enforcement mechanism. Judges...