This Tennessean article might not come up for all readers, but basically:
The Tennessee state government now recommends nearly all vaccinated residents be denied access to monoclonal antibody treatment in a new effort to preserve a limited supply of antibody drugs for those who remain most vulnerable to the virus, largely by their own choice.
The federal government began capping shipments of these drugs last week because the majority of the national supply is being used by a small number of poorly vaccinated southern states, including Tennessee.
State officials say restricting eligibility to the treatment will reserve the now-limited supply of drugs for those unvaccinated residents most likely to suffer severe complications from a coronavirus infection. But the recommendation is certain to frustrate many vaccinated Tennesseans, who took commonsense steps to help stop the pandemic and, as a result, may now lose access to one of the most effective treatments for the virus.
About 44% of Tennesseans are fully vaccinated. Under the state’s new recommendation, only vaccinated people who are immunocompromised still will be eligible for monoclonal antibody treatment.
It is a recommendation only. Individual providers ultimately make the call.
“Clinically, it makes sense,” Tennessee’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Lisa Piercey, said Friday. But it is sure to be unpopular.
Giving monoclonal antibody treatments to the vaccinated unlikely to get severely sick would be of “limited benefit,” said Dr. Karen Bloch, medical director of the antibody infusion clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The Tennessean adds:
Antibody drugs cost taxpayers about $2,100 per dose.
The vaccines cost about $20.
But sure, reward the irresponsible with cutting-edge treatment if you want to get more of the same behavior. Isn’t that conservatives’ own reasoning? Ah, but that only applies to lessers, children and Democrats, not to the Party of Personal Responsibility.
(h/t VBB)