Gov. Ron DeSantis visited The Villages on Wednesday to announce the opening of another state monoclonal antibody treatment site for COVID-19 sufferers with mild symptoms.
But treatment locations around Florida have the capacity to treat many more patients. Florida’s 20 or so locations have treated more than 10,000. DeSantis says none are at capacity.
Despite a relatively high vaccination rate, the wave of COVID-19 cases has flooded Sumter County, too. So DeSantis came to The Villages to urge at-risk residents who get infected to sign up for the federally funded Regeneron treatment — even if they are vaccinated.
DeSantis, while still pushing for people to get vaccinated, has touted the antibody treatment as a way to help people who already have the virus while reducing the strain of hospitals.
“It is important to do it early, and so if you are booking somebody out three or four days in advance but you’re doing 180 when you have the ability to do 320, are you saving that for walkups or whatnot?” DeSantis said. “So we’re going to look into that.”
