Woman pictured lying on floor in clinic touts COVID antibody treatment

TALLAHASSEE — Two weeks ago, Toma Dean was prone on the floor of a Jacksonville library, waiting to receive an antibody treatment at a site set up by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration. On Monday she was by the governor’s side, touting the Regeneron drug she says helped save her life.

“I received Regeneron and within about 24-36 hours I knew I was going to make it,” Dean told reporters at a press conference in Jacksonville. “I knew that something had drastically changed in me.”

Photos of Dean doubled over and in pain went viral earlier this month, with many seeing it as a symbol of the rampant spread of COVID-19 in Florida, which has seen a surge of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the past two months.

Before the photos and the treatment, Dean had been in and out of the emergency room, she said, grappling with high fevers and low oxygen levels and being sent home after receiving fluids.

“That wasn’t a longterm cure,” Dean said.

The Jacksonville site was one of the first set up by DeSantis, as he touted the monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 as the virus became more widespread. He visited the area again Monday, emphasizing that the treatment is a backup, not a substitute for vaccination. DeSantis also made appearances at sites in Tampa and Panama City with the same message.

DeSantis has been criticized by Democrats for pushing the antibody treatments more vocally than vaccines, but he rebutted that Monday, suggesting public health officials didn’t promote the treatments as much because they didn’t want people to not get the vaccine since a cure was available.

“I absolutely think that if this had been promoted better I think you would’ve kept a lot of people out of the hospital, I think you’d have saved a lot of lives,” DeSantis said. “There’s a lot of different tools here. No one’s saying this is the only game in town. No one’s saying that this is something you should put all your eggs in that basket.”

There are 11.3 million fully vaccinated residents in Florida, about 53% of the population, 22nd among states, and 64% of the population has received at least one dose, 20th in the nation.

Hospitalizations in Florida began dropping last week and fell to 15,488 Monday, according to the Florida Hospital Association, after hovering around 17,000 for the previous two weeks and straining several hospital systems.

DeSantis attributed the drop in hospitalizations in part to the new treatment centers, which people who have tested positive for COVID-19 can use. His administration has set up 21 sites throughout the state and given out 30,000 antibody treatments, he said.