It looks like the Biden Administration is giving the middle finger to American patriots everywhere with their plan to limit shipments of the life-saving COVID-19 treatment to the red states where it is most needed. At the same time, President Joe Biden continues to complain about how these right-wing governors are playing politics with the pandemic. Better look in the mirror, buddy. Better look in the mirror.
The demand for monoclonal antibodies continues to rise because it is a proven treatment for this virus. However, the Department of Health and Human Services has seized control of its distribution, thereby creating yet another government bottleneck that will probably delay treatment for those who need it the most.
According to the Washington Post, HHS is going to have complete authority to decide where this medication is ultimately going to go beginning this week, and this also includes the 1.4 million doses that the U.S. government purchased for $2.9 billion.
“HHS will determine the amount of product each state and territory receives on a weekly basis,” an anonymous HHS official said, according to the Post.
“State and territorial health departments will subsequently identify sites that will receive the product and how much,” he said. “This system will help maintain equitable distribution, both geographically and temporally, across the country, providing states and territories with consistent, fairly distributed supply over the coming weeks.”
It used to be that health care facilities and doctors would be able to order the treatment directly from Eli Lilly and Regeneron, and they would be given emergency authorization to manufacture it.
Additionally, patients could opt for the drug being infused on an outpatient basis or through a series of injections seven to ten days after the outset of symptoms.
Even though the drug has been underutilized, it has become more widespread. States including Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee are now using these supplies at a 70 percent rate.
Biden began by mentioning these two states on Thursday and then he had the gall to accuse them of “playing politics.”
“Republican governors in states like Texas and Florida are doing everything they can to undermine the public health requirements that keep people safe. They’re playing politics with the lives of their citizens, especially children. I refuse to give in to it,” Biden said, even as his administration is set to go ahead and deny those states the amount of medication they require.
In his speech last week, Biden promised that he was going to “increase the average pace of shipment across the country of free monoclonal antibody treatments by another 50 percent.”
Indeed, they even asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki last Thursday if the administration appeared to be reversing itself, but the best spin that she could come up with was blaming Texas and Florida.
“We are increasing our distribution this month by 50 percent,” she claimed. “In early August, we were distributing an average of 100,000 doses per week. Now we’re shipping an average of 150,000 doses per week.”
“But over the last month, given the rise in cases due to the Delta variant and the lower number of vaccination rates in some of these states — like Florida, like Texas — just seven states are making up 70 percent of the orders,” Psaki added.
This is when a reporter pointed out that no, there really isn’t a lack of supply, but Psaki was full speed ahead anyway: “our role, as the government overseeing the entire country, is to be equitable in how we distribute,” she said.
“We’re not going to give a greater percentage to Florida over Oklahoma,” she concluded, even though it would make sense given the high COVID-19 rates in the Sunshine State.
Political commentator Christina Pushaw is one individual who is not buying this rhetoric and has literally seen right through it. She is calling it for what it is: another tool to divide.
“There’s no national shortage of monoclonal antibody treatment, so there is no reason Florida AND Oklahoma can’t get enough for ALL their patients,” she tweeted Friday. “Unless the reason is to turn Americans against each other.”
“Is Joe Biden deliberately cutting antibody shipments to the South?” political commentator Jack Probosiec asked.
It almost seems as if the Biden Administration is withholding these monoclonal antibodies from Southern states simply due to the fact that they won’t fall in line, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was one of the first to notice.
“I will fight like hell to overcome Biden’s cruel decision to drastically reduce lifesaving monoclonal antibody treatments for Floridians,” the Republican tweeted. “We’ve seen steep reductions in hospital admissions due to early treatment efforts. It’s wrong to penalize Florida for its partisan bitterness.”
In a video he shared on Friday, DeSantis explained the logistical obstacles now facing both providers and patients alike.
“What the HHS and the Biden administration is now doing is they’re saying that all of the reduced amount [of monoclonal antibodies] will go to the state, and we’re responsible not only for sourcing our sites, which we’re happy to do, but any infusion center, any provider, any hospital will have to come through the state,” DeSantis commented.
“And to just spring this on us starting next week, we’re going to have to do that? There’s going to be a huge disruption and patients are going to suffer as a result of this,” DeSantis warned.
Biden continues to be out for his pound of flesh, and this has nothing to do with COVID-19 or how many people could potentially get sick. Biden now sees it as worth it if he can take a swipe at DeSantis and other members of the GOP.
This just illustrates the fact that leftists will do whatever they have to do to get their way, including publishing hit pieces on these red states with low vaccination rates. Will this vaccine cause you to have a severe allergic reaction? No matter, you still need to take it.
This is why it is difficult to deny that Democrats are playing politics with the pandemic all along. If there is any positive from this experience though, it would be that it at least has shown us who is the political wheat and who is the political chaff. That could be very valuable with midterm elections coming up fast.