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Bamlanivimab Puns
Part of a series on COVID-19 Pandemic. [View Related Entries]
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About
Bamlanivimab Puns refers to jokes about the name of an Eli Lilly drug approved by the FDA for emergency emergency treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms. After news of the drug's approval on November 9th, 2020, Twitter users joked about how difficult it was to spell and pronounce, using Black Betty jokes in particular.
Origin
On November 9th, 2020, the FDA announced that it approved Eli Lilly's drug bamlanivimab for experimental treatment of mild-moderate COVID-19 symptoms.[1] The drug, while still being investigated, has proven effective in lowering the hospitalization and emergency room visit rate of patients with COVID-19 with a high risk of the condition worsening. One of the most popular tweets about the news was posted by Bloomberg (shown below).[2]
Spread
After the news broke, Twitter users began making jokes about its name, often referencing "Black Betty" by Ram Jam, whose chorus reads, "Whoa Black Betty, bam-a-lam." User @AdamWeinstein[3] made the joke, gaining over 700 retweets and 3,200 likes (shown below, left), as did user @CallMeMatub,[4] gaining over 160 retweets and 880 likes (shown below, right).
Others made non-musical jokes about the oddness of the name. For example, @nycsouthpaw[5] joked, "The hottest club in New York is BAMLANIVIMAB. It has everything," gaining over 96 retweets and 720 likes (shown below, left). User @BillCorbett[6] tweeted, "Covid will be stopped by, um… bibimbap," gaining over 300 likes (shown below, right).
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] FDA – FDA Authorizes Monoclonal Antibody for Treatment of COVID-19
[3] Twitter – @AdamWeinstein
[4] Twitter – @CallMeMatub
[5] Twitter – @nycsouthpaw
[6] Twitter – @BillCorbett
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