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Claim: “During Covid, Tim Walz rationed access to monoclonal antibody treatments based on skin color.”
Shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her presidential running mate, he faced increased scrutiny over how he led his state during the coronavirus pandemic’s apex.
One claim is that a Minnesota health department program that sought to ensure equitable distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments discriminated against white people.
We contacted a Kirk spokesperson for evidence supporting his claim but received no response.
We also found other social media posts making the same claim.
The notion that access to the treatments was rationed by race and that may have led to the deaths of white people is false and ignores key details about Minnesota’s policy, experts told PolitiFact.
The Minnesota Department of Health said the Food and Drug Administration acknowledged that race and ethnicity “may also place individual patients at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.” That risk may not be determined by underlying conditions alone, possibly because of underdiagnosis of other diseases in Black, Indigenous and people of color populations.
*Actual social media posts added by Zany News Editor.
Read the continuation of this fact-check on PolitiFact
Jeff Cercone is a staff writer for PolitiFact. He has previously worked as a content editor for the Chicago Tribune and for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
