Tuesday, January 04, 2022

Here, Let Me Blame You For My Problems

Seven federally funded COVID-19 community-based testing sites operated in El Paso, Dallas and Harris counties last year, but they closed down in June 2020 despite a bipartisan push for them to remain open longer. At the time, Abbott said the state was prepared to transition away from federal testing sites.

Oops.

DSHS said this week the state was running out of the only antibody treatment deemed effective against the omicron variant. Regional infusion centers in Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio and The Woodlands have exhausted their supply of the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab, according to DSHS. The state is asking the federal government to send more shipments of sotrovimab, as well as Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ REGN-COV2 and bamlanivimab, antibody treatments that have proved effective against other COVID-19 variants.

“The State of Texas is urging the federal government to step up in this fight and provide the resources necessary to help protect Texans,” Abbott said in a written statement.

And why is Texas running out of treatments for covid?

As of Wednesday the state’s positivity rate — or the percentage of COVID-19 tests that return positive for the virus — was 26.5%, and hospitalizations had climbed to more than 5,500.

And, of course, Abbott has opposed vaccine mandates and mask mandates:

“That was, I think, a real frustration for health care workers because those (hospitalizations) could have been prevented and certainly patients were taking up beds that could go to other patients who had been delaying care,” Alsip said.


The Texas Department of State Health Services says its regional infusion centers in Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio and The Woodlands "have exhausted their supply of sotrovimab," the only monoclonal antibody treatment that appears to be effective against the omicron variant. The department said the scarcity stems from a national shortage of the treatment, which is made by GlaxoSmithKline and received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May.

The affected infusion centers will not be able to offer sotrovimab until federal authorities ship more supplies in January. Chris Van Deusen, a department spokesperson, said it’s likely other infusion centers will use the remainder of their sotrovimab in the next few days.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic how the immune system prevents the virus from entering healthy cells, and they have been used to treat patients at high risk of becoming severely ill from COVID-19.

A scarcity of the treatment would leave the state’s health department without an important tool to combat the virus as cases surge across the country. Some hospitals in the New York region have had to stop offering monoclonal antibody treatment because they’ve run out of sotrovimab. Those hospitals have said they will continue offering them when they receive additional supplies from state and federal agencies.

Maybe if more Texans were vaccinated this wouldn't be such a problem?

“About 90 to 93% of our hospitalized patients are unvaccinated,” Young said. “That number is closer to 98% for critical care, and around 60% for those on ventilators.” 

Well, that and:

COVID-19 numbers in the Greater Houston area have reached record levels and health experts believe the peak of omicron is still a couple of weeks away.

According to the Texas Medical Center, more people are being admitted to its hospitals daily than ever before. It’s creating a strain on hospitals where more healthcare workers are getting sick.

"Last week, we had over 1,100 staff who had COVID and were unable to come to work on their normal schedules," said Robert Schwartz, the executive vice president for Methodist Hospital. "We’ve had to really juggle our staffing and constrain our beds."

So maybe that's what Abbott's worried about.  But won't this all lead to FEMA testing sites? 

I'm kind of hoping the GOP in Texas decides Abbott is a RINO for stuff like this.  One of his primary opponents wants to eliminate property taxes, the only source of revenue for cities, counties, and schools in Texas (aside from a pittance given to cities from the state sales tax).  The other announced candidate is Alan West.  If Abbott loses to either of them, Beto can send the moving vans around to the Mansion the day after the primaries.
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