Florida monoclonal antibody sites 'closed until further notice' after FDA limits use of 2 treatments

All the monoclonal antibody sites across Florida will be closed until further notice, the Florida Department of Health announced via Twitter on Monday.

The DOH said the closures come after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it was limiting the use of two monoclonal antibody treatments, bamlanivimab and etesevimab (administered together) and REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab), because they don't work against the omicron variant.

"Because data show these treatments are highly unlikely to be active against the omicron variant, which is circulating at a very high frequency throughout the United States, these treatments are not authorized for use in any U.S. states, territories, and jurisdictions at this time. In the future, if patients in certain geographic regions are likely to be infected or exposed to a variant that is susceptible to these treatments, then use of these treatments may be authorized in these regions," the FDA said in a statement.

The FDA said it could "reauthorize their use" if the treatments work against future variants.

Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the decision by the FDA in a series of Tweets on Tuesday morning.

"Without a shred of clinical data to support its decision, the Biden Administration has revoked the emergency use authorization for lifesaving monoclonal antibody treatments," DeSantis said in a Tweet. "Floridians have benefited from the state’s treatment sites and their access to treatment shouldn’t be denied based on the whims of a floundering president."