STATEN ISLAND, NY – Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) on Thursday December 23 sent a letter to President Biden urging the administration to turn its focus to increasing the supply and distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments and therapeutic medicines to treat COVID-19 infections. In New York City, hospitals are reporting shortages of the monoclonal antibody Sotrovimab, which is hindering their ability to adequately treat their patients.
“As you addressed the nation yesterday regarding the rise in COVID-19 infections attributed to the Omicron variant, you committed to upping the supply and availability of testing kits to the general public,” Malliotakis wrote. “While testing remains important, I was disappointed that your announcement did not also include a commitment from your administration to focus efforts on increasing the supply of monoclonal antibody treatments and therapeutic medicines to treat COVID-19 infections”.
Malliotakis added:”We are now two years and multiple variants into this pandemic. It is clear that COVID 19 is going to remain among us in one form or another, and the government mandates and restrictions have not been effective only increasing vaccine hesitancy and distrust of government. I urge you to turn the attention of your administration toward expanding our arsenal of therapeutic treatments that could both save lives and get us back to normalcy”.