TALLAHASSEE -- Governor Ron DeSantis is promising to "work like hell" after the federal Department of Health and Human Services took over distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments and cut Florida's supply by more than half.

HHS says it has "transformed" the process from first come first serve to a "coordinated distribution system" to get the COVID treatment drugs "where they are needed most."

White House officials say a handful of states, including Florida, have gotten most of the treatments available so far. But now the feds will allocate supplies each week “based on weekly reports of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in addition to data on inventories and use” by states.

DeSantis says the feds are putting up obstacles to Florida receiving the drugs. He has been out front about promoting monoclonal treatments as a way to fight COVID before symptoms become life-threatening, appearing at openings of treatment facilities around the state. Biden's plan, announced last week, asserted that monoclonal antibody shipments would increase by 50 percent in September. But DeSantis says Florida faces a huge shortage, after the feds banned direct orders from the states. “We’re facing a massive, massive cut in monoclonal antibody treatments abruptly. Just after the president said they would have a 50 percent increase, we’re now seeing more than a 50 percent cut for the state of Florida. So we’re going to fight like hell to make sure that our folks get what they need.”

One problem facing DeSantis' plans: the federal government bought up the entire supply of Regeneron from GlaxoSmithKline.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday that the federal government’s distribution plan for monoclonal antibodies is aimed at achieving “equity” among states receiving them.

“Just seven states are making up 70 percent of the orders. Our supply is not unlimited and we believe it should be equitable across states,” Psaki said during her daily press briefing. “I think our role as the government overseeing the entire country is to be equitable in how we distribute. We’re not going to give a greater percentage to Florida over Oklahoma.”

Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.

Photo: Getty Images

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