The state of Florida will be opening three new monoclonal antibody therapy sites in Miami-Dade and Broward starting Tuesday in an effort to combat the fast-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19.
Sites will open in Broward at Markham Park (16001 W. State Rd. 84 in Sunrise), C.B. Smith Park (900 N. Flamingo Rd. in Pembroke Pines), and in Miami-Dade at Miami-Dade College's North Campus (11380 NW 27th Ave.). Both sites will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Additional sites will also be opening in Duval, Palm Beach and Seminole counties.
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Earlier in January, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called on the federal government to distribute more monoclonal antibody treatments while speaking at Broward Health.
The governor said the Department of Health and Human Services announced that they'd be sending more treatments, adding the department said that supply of the drug is "extremely limited."
DeSantis said any treatments Florida receives will likely be quickly used and Florida will need more treatments from the federal government, since the state can't get them directly from pharmaceutical companies.
"The federal government has cornered the entire market," DeSantis said. "We do not believe that the federal government should be holding back any more medications, we think we have to offer this, particularly for our elderly population."
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Last September, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it would determine the weekly amount of monoclonal antibody products each state would receive based on the number of COVID-19 cases in that state and how much the antibodies were being used. Health departments in each state identify which sites receive the antibodies as well as the amount each site receives.
