“Fox & Friends” has joined the Governor Ron DeSantis movement of promoting Regeneron’s highly-experimental COVID-19 antibody therapy as a treatment option instead of the preventative coronavirus vaccine, and is falsely claiming that most people hospitalized with the coronavirus are treated with the drug.
“You know it’s interesting,” Fox & Friends’ Ainsley Earhardt said Wednesday, “Greg Abbott, he’s in our prayers this morning because he announced that he tested positive for COVID yesterday. He has been vaccinated and still got COVID,” she said, appearing to falsely imply the coronavirus vaccine does not work.
“But I think he’s doing okay, he’s planning on getting the Regeneron. No symptoms, he said,” she added. Regeneron’s drug is supposed to be prescribed only to patients who have symptoms, and is considered “investigational,” according to the FDA.
“What’s interesting though is if you don’t get vaccinated and you go to the hospital most of the time you’re going to get Regeneron,” Earhardt, who is not a medical professional, added falsely. “But Regeneron or the antibodies, [is] basically still getting vaccinated because they’re sticking you with an antibody.”
That’s false.
“The antibody cocktail is not a substitute for vaccination against COVID-19,” PharmTech reports. The FDA also states Regeneron’s antibody cocktail is not authorized for use by patients who are hospitalized because of COVID-19.
Anti-vaxxers often claim they are refusing to be vaccinated because the coronavirus vaccines are “experimental,” or have not been approved by the FDA. Neither claim is accurate. But Regeneron’s REGEN-COV antibody cocktail is not just experimental, it is “investigational.” It is, contrary to Earhardt’s claims, far less available. It is also far more expensive to the federal government, and most importantly, does not prevent COVID.
Also during the same segment co-host Brian Kilmeade noted fake coronavirus vaccine cards are very cheap, implying Americans might want to use those, during his rant about New York City requiring proof of vaccination to enter many businesses.