Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ claim that he played no role in the early distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to a wealthy community was dismissed by county officials.
ONE Miami Herald An article published last Wednesday revealed that more than 1,200 residents of Key Largo’s wealthy Ocean Reef Club community were vaccinated while doses were in short supply in mid-January. During a news conference on Thursday, DeSantis insisted that the clinic “was not a website we were involved in”, while calling the article “a major failure” and “a poorly executed successful work”.
Local county officials and a spokesman for Baptist Health Systems, the company that distributed the doses of the vaccine, contradict the Republican governor’s denial in an article published by the Herald on Saturday.
“Where, when and how many vaccines injected into the arms of my constituents are decided first at the state level where they determine that it is the highest and best use, and are also assigned to our Department of Health, which is administered by the state, and our emergency management, “Monroe County Commissioner Mike Forster told the newspaper.
“It is our understanding that the Ocean Reef Medical Center asked the State of Florida for doses of vaccine, and the State of Florida asked Baptist Health to receive the doses in our deep-frozen freezer for delivery to the Ocean Reef Medical Center, ” Baptist Health Systems spokesman Dori A. Alvarez added in a statement to Herald and The Tallahassee Times.
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A spokesman for the Florida Emergency Management Division told newspapers that neither she nor the Florida Department of Health had “instructed” Baptist Health Systems to distribute the doses. With Monroe County officials also denying involvement and DeSantis claiming last week that the state was not involved “in any way, shape or form”, it is unclear who authorized the distribution.
Ocean Reef Club residents reportedly included the only Key Largo people to donate to the DeSantis political committee, with 17 residents each giving more than $ 5,000 and up to $ 250,000. Critics also pointed to other early vaccination sites with apparent ties to DeSantis donors, although no similar connection appears to exist in many other locations.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) Said DeSantis “set up exclusive vaccine clinics for guests in luxury communities” on Monday, while accusing the governor of “retaliation, misrepresentation or just blatant lie” when faced with criticism to clinics, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Congressman Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), Himself a former governor of the Florida Republican Party, said the clinics were set up “so that the governor’s friends and donors could jump the line in front of all the other seniors. “
Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nikki Fried, the state’s top Democratic official and potential government opponent for DeSantis in 2022, called for a federal investigation by the governor. Fried said that the vaccine’s distribution in Florida was directed at “very unique postal codes”, while describing the process as “public corruption in his face” during a Monday appearance on MSNBC. Morning Joe.
Newsweek contacted DeSantis’ office for comment.
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