TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the state of Florida has provided more than 40,000 monoclonal antibody treatments to patients statewide at the 21 state treatment sites. Governor DeSantis was joined by recovered treatment recipients to discuss the life-saving benefits of the treatment.

Nikki Schofield, a fourth-grade teacher who received her treatment at a state site, said, “I very much believe in prevention, my first vaccine was on July 28th. I was scheduled for my second dose on the 18th of August. One morning, I was in my classroom completely asymptomatic, and I did test positive on that day. I was the first in line to receive monoclonal antibodies and I felt results almost immediately. It was very easy, very painless. That was a great, wonderful experience. I had no idea what this was a month ago, and I feel that it helped me. I feel it saved me from ICU. I’m very fortunate to have heard about it, and to have gotten treatment so quickly.”

Tony Ramos, a husband, father and law enforcement officer said, “I did get sick. One day I left work early, went home, and felt cold. I normally don’t feel cold. My wife told me to take my temperature and it was a hundred degrees. I felt very sick. I was day three into it, feeling sick, when I made an appointment for the monoclonal antibody treatment. The very next day I started feeling a lot better. By Monday I was up and out of the house. I felt that I shielded and protected those around me and everybody’s coming along now.”

Melissa Frenyea, an instructor at a local technical college, said, “I had a really bad experience with COVID. This is my second go around. The first time I had it the symptoms weren’t as severe, but it lasted about a month, and this go around the medic told us about the antibodies and I went the next day. We were in and out in about an hour, and the staff there was amazing. They got me a wheelchair because I couldn’t walk, attended to me, and were just really, really awesome. Within six hours of having the injection I started to feel a difference, started to feel a little better. My fever broke within 24 hours. If you’re sick, you should try it out.”

Shawn Chamberlain, a member of the law enforcement community, said, “I started feeling sick about three weeks ago and asked my doctor about monoclonal antibodies. They did refer me, and I ended up going to get the treatment. It was a very easy, and a very simple process. My symptoms stayed pretty mild, and I got better. I’m going on a little over a week since treatment and I feel great. I’m glad that that was an option for me and for people out there.”

Rob Dale, a veteran and financial planner, said, “For all I know the Governor and his staff may literally have saved my life and my fiancée’s life with the availability of Regeneron. A couple of weeks ago, I was diagnosed with COVID. The day after my diagnosis, we went down and got the treatment. The next morning all my symptoms were gone. I had no heaviness in my chest, my fever gone, same thing for my fiancé. I call it the Captain America super serum. At no cost, it was a no-brainer for me.”

Joan Groadski, a retired nurse, said, “I did everything that I thought I should to protect me from getting COVID and still got it. I was very frightened with the diagnosis thinking this is going to be bad news for me. Within 24 hours of the infusion the coughing was barely there, the fever was gone, the pain was gone. I was so relieved, and felt it truly saved my life. I’m probably one of the first ones who got the infusion December 22^nd, and things have definitely progressed in a good way, especially with the sub-Q shots being available now.”

Bill Groadski, a liaison for a Florida health care company, said, “I work for a national home respiratory company, so I’m in and out of the hospital, the ICUs almost daily seeing patients and evaluating them as well as their caregivers to see if they’re a candidate to go home on a ventilator. I was convinced that if I was going to contract COVID, it was going to be from the hospital. However, it was on our little birthday vacation trip out of state where we contracted COVID. I had already seen what the monoclonal antibody infusion did for my wife Joan, so I insisted on a referral for the infusion.”

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