Texas Acquires COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibodies, Bypassing Biden HHS Limits: Governor

Nurse Salina Padilla (L) prepares Dr. Prabakar Tummala for Bamlanivimab, monoclonal antibody infusion at Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville, Calif., on Dec. 17, 2020. Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced his state has obtained its own supply of monoclonal antibodies, a type of treatment for COVID-19, in a move that bypasses the Biden administration’s limits.

“Texas has obtained its own separate allocation of these monoclonal antibody treatments working around the limitations that President Biden has put on us so that we will be able to ensure that anybody in the state of Texas that wants access to these special treatments, that they will be able to get it,” Abbott, a Republican, said during an interview with radio host Dana Loesch.

The governor also wrote on Twitter that Texans who get the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus and get a referral from a doctor are eligible for monoclonal antibody treatment.

Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) moved to ration COVID-19 treatment via monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies distribution sites previously could order the treatment directly from manufacturers.

The federal government-directed change now requires states to use HHS as a middleman to obtain the antibody treatments and places caps on how many each state can obtain.

The Texas Department of State Health Services told news outlets this week that it obtained some 4,700 doses from drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The Epoch Times has contacted the agency for comment.

Previously, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced he ordered thousands of doses of the treatment from GlaxoSmithKline after HHS’s rule change. The governor then called on the Biden administration to restore Florida’s supply of the drug.

“We should be doing everything we can to get patients monoclonal antibody treatments, not cutting allocations of treatment like the Biden Administration has done,” he said in a statement issued last week. “Despite the cuts by the federal government, we want any Floridians that could benefit from this treatment to have access to it. Florida is going to leave no stone unturned when finding treatment for our state, and we are encouraged to have secured a shipment of monoclonal antibody treatments from GlaxoSmithKline.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) proposed legislation that would prevent HHS from creating rules to block health care providers and hospitals from purchasing monoclonal antibody treatments.

But the White House said that the change is necessary to make sure states all across the country get access to the treatment.

“Just seven states are making up 70 percent of the orders. Our supply is not unlimited, and we believe it should be equitable across states across the country,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier in September.