DeSantis promotes new COVID antibody drug while failing to correct false claims about Ivermectin

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has confirmed the state will receive thousands of doses of the drug Sotrovimab to serve as a replacement for the monoclonal antibody COVID treatment, Regeneron. But despite his push for a supplemental antibody treatment, the Republican governor still failed to correct false claims about the controversial drug Ivermectin, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

At a news conference on Thursday, September 23, DeSantis lauded Sotrovimab as a substitute drug for Regeneron. "The clinical data that they had was really, really strong," DeSantis said. "In fact, it was even stronger than Regeneron. And we know Regeneron has been very, very effective in real-world [use]."

During the conference, Charles Craig, a 62-year-old Tampa Bay resident, weighed attempted to promote two drugs that have been at the center of conspiracy theories and misinformation. Craig praised the horse deworming drug Ivermectin as a treatment for COVID. "In the beginning, hydroxychloroquine worked, they grabbed it. More recently, Ivermectin worked and they grabbed it, and now they're grabbing my Regeneron."

Although Craig's claims were false, the governor reportedly made no effort to correct him. However, research and multiple studies have determined that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective form of treatment for COVID. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also warned against the use of Ivermectin to treat the virus.

The Republican governor also criticized the Biden administration for the decrease in shipments of the COVID antibody cocktail, Regeneron. During an appearance in Tampa, Fla., DeSantis said, "we had supplies of 40,000 to 45,000 doses a week just a few weeks ago, we're now less than 18,000 doses of Regeneron."

DeSantis' latest failure to correct misinformation shared at a news conference comes just days after he was previously criticized for the same error. Last week, he was criticized for failing to correct a man at a news conference who claimed the COVID vaccine "changes your RNA."