The US government is buying more doses of monoclonal antibody treatments for Covid-19, and the Biden administration is taking over distribution in order to avoid shortages of the key therapeutics.
The moves come as demand for monoclonal antibodies has increased as cases surged due to spread of the Delta variant and low vaccination rates in some areas of the country.
Monoclonal antibodies are lab-engineered immune system proteins that kickstart an immune response against an infection. The US Department of
Health and Human Services says that as of September 10, 2.17 million doses of monoclonal antibodies have been shipped to all sites, and 938,000 doses have been used since December. About 43% of the distributed doses have been used as of September 3.
An HHS spokesperson said seven states have accounted for 70% of orders for the therapy.
Those seven states are Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.
"Given this reality, we must work to ensure our supply of these life-saving therapies remains available for all states and territories, not just some," the HHS spokesperson said.
The distribution, which is similar to a system employed earlier this year, will fall to HHS, which will allocate product to states and territories each week, rather administration sites ordering them directly.
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