Seven Southern states account for 70% of US orders for monoclonal antibodies, the treatment of choice for many vaccine refusers

• Orders for doses of monoclonal antibodies jumped from 27,000 in July to 168,000 doses per week in late August.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday that the state is running low on the treatment.
• Monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 received FDA authorization in 2020.

70% of orders placed for doses of monoclonal antibodies came from seven Southern states, where governors frequently promote the costly treatment as part of their COVID-19 strategy, according to The New York Times.

As orders jumped from 27,000 in July to 168,000 doses per week in late August, the Biden administration told states to prepare for the nation's dwindling supply of the treatment and expect scaled-back shipments as a result of increasing demand from less-vaccinated Southern states, the Times reported.

Several states, including Missouri, Texas, and Florida, have expanded access to monoclonal antibody treatment in recent weeks, despite each of their governors opposing vaccine and mask mandates.

"We're going to be at a point, within a week, where there are going to be folks that want and probably need this treatment and we're not going to have enough of it," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday, according to WLWT.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful antigens such as viruses, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The treatment, which is no less experimental than COVID-19 vaccines, received FDA authorization in 2020.