Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the media at a coronavirus vaccination site at Lakewood Ranch on Wednesday in Bradenton, Florida. Chris O’Meara / AP Photo
TALLAHASSEE – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis traveled on Wednesday to a wealthy, mostly white community in Manatee County to publicize a vaccination site that he said would make it easier for the elderly there to get the injection.
The Republican governor was already facing attacks from local officials upset over having placed the new “pod” in the two richest zip codes in the county, even as racial disparities continued to affect the launch of the state vaccine, and he had a strong message he wanted deliver in person: If you don’t like it, let’s go.
“If Manatee County doesn’t like us to do that, we are totally fine with putting it in the counties that want it,” DeSantis said during a news conference on Wednesday at Rancho Lakewood, a luxury development in the county. “If you want us to send you to Sarasota next time, or Charlotte, or Pasco, let us know. We are happy to do that. “
The move to install the vaccination site in the Republican-trend area, which was first reported by the Bradenton Herald, occurs when other areas of the state run out of vaccines and the governor ignores calls for the state to step up efforts to resolve disparities racial. Only 5.3% of the vaccine doses the state has administered so far have been for black residents, according to state data. Nearly 17 percent of Florida’s population is black.
Black religious leaders said last month that DeSantis’ office did not respond when they proposed a plan to use a network of churches and community centers in predominantly black communities to vaccinate millions of people.
After DeSantis launched his trademark challenge on Wednesday, state deputy Omari Hardy (D-West Palm Beach) decided Twitter to offer a “translation” of what he interpreted DeSantis’ comments: “If you criticize me in my official capacity as a civil servant, I will retain life-saving resources from your community.”
The site selection process began with a February 9 call from Lakewood Ranch developer and Republican Party donor Rex Jensen, the Herald reported. Also on the line was Pat Neal, a developer who builds homes in Rancho Lakewood and is also a major donor to the Florida Republican Party. He has given $ 135,000 to the DeSantis political committee since 2018. Neal declined to comment.
Manatee County Commissioners, Misty Servia and Reggie Bellamy, told the Herald that the Rancho Lakewood site selected by DeSantis would serve only wealthy Jensen residents. DeSantis denied using postal codes to determine which communities get the vaccine first.
“It was a choice about where there is a high concentration of elderly people and where you could have communities to provide the vaccine,” said DeSantis during a news conference on Wednesday, which was sometimes heated.
Lakewood Ranch is under the Republican Manatee County Commission Chair Vanessa Baugh, who said during a public meeting Tuesday night that she had little time to plan after DeSantis called Jensen.
“We did the best we could in a very short time,” said Braugh.
The statewide DeSantis vaccination plan gives priority to 4.5 million Florida residents over 64 years of age. Data provided by the DeSantis office show that only 29 percent of the elderly in Manatee County have been vaccinated so far – the fourth lowest level in the state. St. Johns County had the highest number of elderly people vaccinated, with 67%. St. Johns was followed by Leon County with 66% and Wakulla County with 65%.
Highlands and Glades counties had the lowest percentage of elderly vaccinated, 25%.
Manatee County will receive 6,000 doses of vaccine out of about 400,000 that the state expects to receive from the federal government in the coming days. DeSantis said he also expects an additional 30,000 shots to arrive, and 3,000 of them will go to the Rancho Lakewood site, DeSantis said.
More than 2.4 million people in Florida were vaccinated against Covid-19 on Tuesday, including more than 1.8 million seniors. DeSantis said he may increase eligibility for the vaccine in the coming weeks, as more elderly people get the vaccines.
RB Holmes Jr., pastor of the Tallahassee-based Bethel Baptist Missionary Church, said last month that he sent a plan to DeSantis offices to use a network of churches and community centers in predominantly Black neighborhoods as vaccination sites, but his proposal was ignored.
“For some reason, Florida is a little hesitant to work collectively, with a group of volunteers who extend their arms, not their fists,” Holmes told POLITICO. “But that is why the federal government is so important … If it were only state rights, we would still be living under Jim Crowism.”