Monoclonal antibodies produced by Regeneron and Eli Lilly have become widely accepted as a successful treatment for COVID-19, reducing symptoms quickly and keeping infected people out of the hospital if they act quickly enough. Doctors and vaccine skeptics alike are proponents, but some medical experts argue the antibodies aren't enough on their own to make up for the slow-down in vaccine uptake, The New York Times reports.
The simple explanation is that the more people who get vaccinated, the fewer people there will be who need any sort of coronavirus remedy. Beyond that, the infusions also take a lot of time and require a lot of attention from hospital staff. They're also more expensive, costing the federal government about $2,100 per dose. "It's clogging up resources, it's hard to give, and a vaccine is $20 and could prevent almost all of that," Dr. Christian Ramers, an infectious disease specialist and the chief of population health at Family Health Centers of San Diego, told the Times. Basically, Ramers said, emphasizing monoclonal antibodies and playing down vaccines is akin to "investing in car insurance without investing in brakes."
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