I can’t tell if this came out awkwardly or if it’s part of his attempt to back-pedal from being seen as strongly pro-vaccine, knowing that that position doesn’t sit well with some populist Fox viewers.

The vaccines are protecting “many people.”

San Diego County Covid-19 hospitalizations.

Find a vaccination site:https://t.co/WAaDb88tkq pic.twitter.com/7BdRM3YEAw

— SanDiegoCounty (@SanDiegoCounty) August 12, 2021

Another very compelling graph showing that, even in Israel with a massive outbreak, SERIOUS cases among vaccinated are very low (per capita) compared to vast number among unvaccinated. (All 60+ years of age).

Pfizer vaccine has been VERY protective against serious disease. https://t.co/w9vK7Z6ZvT

— (((Howard Forman))) (@thehowie) August 19, 2021

But maybe all Hannity meant to say is that the vaccines provide less protection against infection by Delta than they did against prior strains, which is true enough and explains why antibody treatments are useful. Watch:

Sean Hannity casts doubt on the COVID-19 vaccine as Gov. DeSantis peddles Regeneron treament for the virus. pic.twitter.com/b1sr1MX6Rt

— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 19, 2021

“Fox & Friends” also promoted antibody treatments yesterday, with Ainsley Earhardt going so far as to say that getting Regeneron infusions after you’re infected is tantamount to being vaccinated. It isn’t.

Ainsley Earhardt falsely claimed on Fox & Friends this morning that taking Regeneron after you get infected with Covid is "basically still getting vaccinated." Do not take medical advice from Ainsley Earhardt. pic.twitter.com/YPjP3s1fpE

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 18, 2021

The point of getting vaccinated is to generate antibodies before the virus invades your body so that you’re able to attack it and fight it off before it spreads. If you’re unvaccinated and infected, you lack that ambush capability. Whether you survive or not depends on whether your immune system can win a race with the virus by producing enough antibodies to stop it after it’s already begun spreading. The monoclonal antibody treatments are like calling up reserve troops to the front after the viral invasion has already begun and advanced.

They don’t work as well as vaccination does since they’re an ex post solution, not an ex ante one. But they really do help:

Now, amid the delta variant surge, the cocktail is rapidly becoming a more common, even routine medical response to a positive coronavirus test in a high-risk patient. Federal and state officials are promoting it, particularly in hard-hit areas, and demand has exploded from a trickle to more than 120,000 doses a week by the latest count from its maker, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The company’s combination was bolstered by recent data showing that it cuts the risk of hospitalization or death by roughly 70% in high-risk patients, and can reduce the chance of infection among a patient’s household members by more than 80%. Further fueling its momentum: a recently added option to deliver it in quick shots as well as the slower, more logistically complex infusions.

They don’t do as well against Delta as they did against previous variants but then neither do the vaccines. The Biden administration has encouraged antibody treatments as a way to hold down the death toll and lefty broadcasters like Rachel Maddow have also been touting them lately. But it’s GOP governors like DeSantis and Doug Ducey who have done the most to promote them, which is interesting politically:

The governors in Florida, Missouri and Texas are promising millions of dollars in antibody treatments for infected people even as they oppose vaccine and mask mandates, saying they can potentially keep people with mild Covid symptoms out of hospitals that are being swamped by new cases. But the treatments and cost of providing them are thousands of dollars more than preventive vaccines, and tricky to administer because they work best early in the course of an infection.

The push to medicate rankles public health officials and some within the Biden administration, who say the governors’ stance misleadingly implies Covid-19 can be treated easily, like the common cold. They note treatments like Regeneron’s antibody cocktail — which was administered to former President Donald Trump during his bout with the disease — are essential but part of a limited arsenal to keep patients from being hospitalized or dying, not a game-changer that could help end the pandemic…

The federal government purchased more than 1.5 million doses of Regeneron’s treatment for roughly $2,100 per dose. The drug is free to patients though states are paying to set up and staff sites to dispense the drug.

“It doesn’t make sense to stand in the way of science and clear public health guidance that we are getting from all non-crackpot doctors, nurses and experts in this country,” said Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, Mo. “You’re having this discussion about [infusion] centers that can be avoided if we get people vaccinated.”

Setting up Regeneron mass-administration sites, as DeSantis has done in Florida, is good leadership. And promoting them to show the public that he’s working hard to minimize deaths amid Florida’s ferocious summer wave of Delta is good politics. But I do think there’s something to Politico’s point about how after-the-fact treatments for those infected with COVID are meant in red jurisdictions as something of a substitute for before-the-fact prophylactic measures like mask mandates and vaccine mandates. DeSantis in particular is obviously trying to walk a line in his public messaging on the pandemic, on the one hand strongly endorsing vaccination but on the other hand opposing vaccine mandates of all stripes, including ones for public-school teachers, medical workers, and cruise lines. That’s his concession to populist anti-vaxxers whose votes he needs in a 2024 primary. He’s pro-vaccine — but he’ll fight tooth and nail to prevent them from ever having to get the shot.

I think the PR effort for antibody treatments is part of that. Again, it’s all to the good that he’s setting up sites for people to be treated. But Regeneron is an IV treatment and available only by prescription; a doctor will decide if a sick patient needs it, in which case there’s no need for the governor to promote it. The fact that he and allies like Hannity are doing so seems to me to be part of his overarching message that you should get vaccinated but you certainly don’t need to and he’ll do everything he can to take the pressure off resisters. If you decide the shot’s not for you and you get sick enough to require hospital care, no worries: Regeneron is waiting.

So, really, if you’re hesitant, why bother getting vaccinated at all?

Here’s Scott Gottlieb noting that antibody treatments can also be used prophylactically after infection, to try to prevent symptoms before they appear, as Greg Abbott has chosen to do. It’s a useful drug and governors should be commended for making it available, even if one of their motives in promoting it is cynical.

"It's an appropriate use of the drug. The drug is now approved for a broader indication including prophylaxis," says @ScottGottliebMD on @GovAbbott taking Regeneron treatment. "Frankly, I think we are under utilizing this drug on a wide scale basis." pic.twitter.com/HCTuKkdrA0

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) August 18, 2021