The White House on Tuesday reacted to criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after federal officials moved to curb the use of some versions of Covid-19 treatments found to be less effective against the now-dominant omicron variant.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration said it was revising its authorizations for monoclonal antibody treatments made by Eli Lilly (bamlanivimab and etesevimab, administered together) and Regeneron (REGEN-COV, or casirivimab and imdevimab), because data showed they are “highly unlikely to be active against the omicron variant.”
DeSantis, who has made the treatments the cornerstone of his state’s Covid-19 response, assailed President Biden’s administration for the decision. In response to the FDA’s ruling, Florida will close all sites administering the treatments.
“Let me just take a step back here to say how crazy this is,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, comparing the administration’s efforts to treat Covid-19 cases to a “medicine cabinet.”
“We’re not relying on one type, one brand or treatment. We invested in and continue to buy a variety across monoclonal antibodies, pre-exposure prevention therapies and oral antivirals,” she continued.
“What the FDA is making clear is that these treatments, the ones that they are fighting over — that the governor’s fighting over — do not work against Omicron, and they have side effects,” Psaki said.
Some people who’ve received monoclonal antibody treatment reported rashes, diarrhea, nausea and dizziness after treatment, according to the National Institutes of Health. A small percentage of patients had severe allergic reactions.
Psaki noted that the federal government last week sent Florida 71,000 doses of treatments that are effective against the Omicron and Delta strains, including 34,000 that work on the Omicron variant.
On Tuesday, DeSantis vowed to “fight back” against a decision by federal regulators to limit the use of certain monoclonal antibody treatments for Covid-19 that have not been effective against the Omicron variant.
“People have a right to access these treatments and to revoke it on this basis, it’s just fundamentally wrong,” DeSantis said at a press conference in the Florida panhandle.
DeSantis did not say what actions his administration is considering.
