NewsNation

2-hour wait for drive-up Regeneron in Florida

MIAMI (NewsNation Now) — Tropical Park in Miami is normally known for jogging or shooting hoops, but now it’s a one-stop shop for COVID-19: tests, vaccines and Regeneron. They’re all available in one spot. There’s no line for the vaccine or for the test, but there is a two-hour wait for Regeneron – the monoclonal antibody treatment for people who have already tested positive.

Many of the people showing up are very sick.


“It hurts to breathe,” Yasmine Alvey, who’s waiting for Regeneron, said. “It hurts to talk. My head feels like it is going to explode. My body is numb. Everything hurts.”

COVID-19 patients are told to wait in their cars for the Regeneron. Monday, an entire field was full of them.

One woman said she’d been waiting two hours. Almost everyone there said they hadn’t gotten vaccinated.

Monday, the FDA gave its full stamp of approval to the Pfizer vaccine. It’s the first of the three authorized in the U.S. to get approved. President Biden hopes that will inspire the hundreds of millions who’ve yet to roll up their sleeves.

“If you are one of the millions of American who said they will not get the shot until it has full and final approval of the FDA it has now happened.”

The FDA approval could also pave the way for companies to mandate the vaccine.

“Require your employees to get vaccinated or face strict requirements,” Biden suggested.

But that comes too late for most of the people waiting in Tropical Park, including Saul Alvey, who’s unvaccinated.

“My mandate actually came into effect today,” Alvey told NewsNation. “It was like, ‘OK, once the mandate was in effect let’s get it in there.’ But now I got COVID well over 16 days ago.”