SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Tropical Park in Southwest Miami-Dade has become the latest state-run location to offer Regeneron monoclonal antibody therapy for people with COVID-19.
At a news conference held Saturday at the Manatee Memorial Hospital Complex in Bradenton, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis extolled the benefits of the antibody treatment.
“Regeneron is the one monoclonal that has been shown to be effective against the delta variant,” he said.
Doctors say the treatment gives patients the antibodies their bodies are trying to make as they fight off the virus.
“That can help drive down hospital admissions and, at the end of the day, if you get infected, you’re in bed for a couple of days with flu-like symptoms, and you recover,” said DeSantis. “That’s much better than getting admitted to a hospital and letting this progress.”
The state-run site C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines is also providing Regeneron.
The news comes as the state sees another day of skyrocketing cases, with just over 23,000, and hospitalizations inching past 17,000.
“If you look at the data in Florida, I think pretty much every health system would say the patients that have been admitted for COVID treatment have been overwhelmingly unvaccinated,” said DeSantis.
Overwhelmed nurses and staff at Memorial Hospital Pembroke echoed the governor’s comments, as their units are filled to capacity with COVID-19 patients.
“When we intubate, then almost their last words are begging us for a vaccine, but unfortunately, by that time, it’s already too late,” said Michelle Benitez, an ICU nurse at Memorial Hospital Pembroke.
The sites at Tropical Park and C.B. Smith Park open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, click here.
The COVID-19 vaccine is also available at several locations in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties.
Anyone with questions and concerns about the coronavirus can call the Florida Department of Health’s 24-hour hotline at 1-866-779-6121.
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