High Springs monoclonal site to close Friday

Alachua County’s monoclonal site at Fellowship Church in High Springs will shut down Friday after opening its doors Aug. 24.

The move comes amid a wave of closures announced Monday. The state is shutting down some of the 25 monoclonal antibody treatment sites it set up to combat the COVID-19 surge in August.

A Monday announcement from the Alachua County health department said supply of the monoclonal treatment will shift from the state to local providers―like North Florida Regional Medical Center, UF Health Shands and Infectious Disease Associates and Travel Medicine.

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“The State has worked with a robust network of community partners throughout this process to ensure the health care sector is equipped to administer monoclonal antibody therapy treatment to Floridians,” the release said.

Florida will continue to supply the treatment to the health providers and ensure providers can meet local demand, according to the press release.

WFLA reported that Florida will shut down 12 of its 25 sites because of slowing demand.

The High Springs site averaged 130 patients per day during its first week of operation, and in early October, another monoclonal site opened at the Suwannee River Fairgrounds to serve Levy, Dixie and Gilchrist counties.

Monday’s email said the antibody treatments can reduce hospitalization and death by 75-80 percent.

The Florida Department of Health reports 10.89 million residents have been fully vaccinated and another 1.7 million have received a first dose―giving the state a 73 percent vaccination rate for those over 12 years old.

Alachua County reports a 70 percent vaccination rate and had 106 new cases from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4.

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