By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Levy County Commissioners this week authorized staff to write a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking the state to set up a tri-county area monoclonal antibody therapy treatment center for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who have been exposed to the virus.

            County Commissioner Matt Brooks brought the issue to the board indicating that one of his family members had been taken to the Fellowship Church in High Springs to receive the treatment and the result “was a huge help” to the family member. The treatment consists of four painless shots.

            “I think it would be beneficial. I know in my family having the monoclonal antibody treatment was a huge help and I think there are some people in the tri-county area that would benefit from that,” he said.

            The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized emergency use of monoclonal antibody therapy. DeSantis has set up treatment centers around the state including the one in High Springs.

            Monoclonal antibody therapy is for use in adults and patients 12 or older who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and are at high risk for progression to severe illness. The treatment is most effective when given earlier, and the soon it is given the better.

            Commission Chairman John Meeks and others on the board have contacted the governor’s office to ask for a treatment center in Levy County but without success. Brooks felt the better way would be for the full county commission to ask for a tri-county treatment center.

            Meeks said he personally believes the Suwannee River Fairgrounds in Fanning Springs would be ideal for people from the tri-county area and perhaps even western Alachua County to receive the monoclonal antibody therapy treatment due to its central location, its air-conditioned show ring, and its ample parking.

            The High Springs location is along U.S. 441 between High Springs and Alachua. The church is listed on the internet as the Fellowship Baptist Church but the sign at the front of the church says Fellowship Church. The treatments are given by nurses in an old gymnasium at the back of the church under the direction of doctors. People must fill out an application form either online or at the site.

            Brooks said he set up an appointment for the family member through an online portal, but he said he has heard that people can just show up there. He said the treatment center isn’t turning people away.

            “It’s saving lives,” said Meeks.

            Meeks said he knows of an older man, a friend of his, who received the treatment, and the treatment saved his life. He said this gentleman would have been someone they would have been talking about burying if he hadn’t got the treatment.

            “He went in and had it done and the next day he was on the mend,” Meeks said.

            Meeks said he believes establishing a monoclonal treatment center for the tri-county area would help a lot of people.

            “I think people are hesitant to go to High Springs. I know it doesn’t sound like it’s that far. Some people would rather have it closer,” he said.

            Emergency Management Director John MacDonald said the Rainbow Medical Springs Center in Dunnellon is also giving the monoclonal antibody shots, but Meeks said Dunnellon is just as distant as High Springs.

            Brooks said he believes establishing a monoclonal antibody treatment site in the tri-county areas gives local people an opportunity to protect themselves from the virus.

            “I think it’s important. Some people are not going to get the vaccine. That’s how it is. They’re not going to do it. I think it behooves us to bring it as close as possible, get information out and, let people protect themselves. It’s here and it’s (the virus) is not going away,” he said.

            Brooks said when he took the family member to the High Springs site there was a big crowd present and it was handled efficiently by medical staff at the site.

            Commissioner Rock Meeks said he has heard good things about the monoclonal antibody therapy treatment.

            “I know of a handful of people who went. I mean driving all the way over and all the way back – they’re like, we felt a lot better when we got back than when we went,” Meeks said. 

            Monoclonal antibody therapy works by injecting large numbers of antibodies into a person to give their immune system the ability to attack the virus by penetrating its outer shell.

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