The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began to limit the distribution of the antibody therapy for COVID-19 on Sept. 3 to address a surge in demand for the treatment. The department immediately limited orders only to sites that report their utilization of the monoclonal therapy to the government, according to a notice. The HHS is also vetting all orders against the rate at which the sites are utilizing the allotted doses. The notice states that the change is temporary. “We will continue to monitor product utilization rates, variant prevalence, and overall availability of monoclonal antibody therapeutics to determine when we will shift back to the normal direct ordering process,” the notice says. The Republican governors of Texas and Florida put an emphasis on the use of the antibody therapy, arguing that it may reduce the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opened up the 23rd antibody …