Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that he is launching a rapid response unit to expand the use of monoclonal antibodies and relieve pressure at hospitals that continue to report a rise in COVID-19 patients.
Watch the briefing in the player above.
The drugs are delivered intravenously or by injection and made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. It concentrates doses of lab-made antibodies to fight COVID-19 and are geared toward people who are at high risk.
DeSantis mentioned good candidates were elderly people and those with chronic kidney disease, diabetes, morbid obesity and sickle cell.
DeSantis has previously said the treatment helped then-President Donald Trump when he was infected last fall.
The Republican governor said he believes this monoclonal antibody treatment is not as well known because it received federal emergency use authorization about the same time as the mRNA vaccines were being approved, and that the focus "rightfully" was on vaccines at the time.
He said he felt it was important to increase its use along with vaccines saying they were "the most effective" yet seen for people who are already infected.