Monoclonal antibody treatment sites take off

With COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations still rising, monoclonal antibody treatment sites are continuing to pop-up in Central Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Monday that the State of Florida is setting up a new site in Orlando at Camping World Stadium. The location has the capacity to serve more than 300 patients per day and will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

According to AdventHealth, monoclonal antibodies are “proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight the COVID-19 virus, helping to keep high-risk patients from getting so sick they need to be admitted to the hospital or become intubated in the intensive care unit.”

The antibodies in COVID-19 patients have the ability to reduce the amount of virus in the body, improve symptoms sooner and make you less likely to be admitted to a hospital.

“Early monoclonal antibody treatment keeps people out of the hospital and saves lives,” said DeSantis in a press release. “We look forward to continuing to open these sites throughout the state and hope awareness about the treatment continues to spread.” 

However, DeSantis is not the only one encouraging the antibody treatments. AdventHealth is continuing to provide treatments for eligible patients.

Since December, AdventHealth has provided more than 3,600 monoclonal antibody treatments in Central Florida to outpatients age 12 or older who tested positive for COVID-19, had mild-to-moderate symptoms for 10 or fewer days and were at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19. 

Patients must have a physician referral to receive monoclonal antibody treatments at three AdventHealth outpatient clinic locations across Central Florida including Lake County (Tavares), Orange County (Orlando) and Volusia County (Orange City).

However, to support the governor’s initiative, a standing order has been issued allowing patients to receive the treatment without a prescription or referral.

AdventHealth has the capacity to administer 670 monoclonal antibody treatments each week.

To find locations to receive monoclonal antibody treatments around the entire state, click here.