© Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the state will not prioritize essential workers in the next round of coronavirus vaccination.
- Instead, those over 70 will be next in line to be immunized.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Sunday that essential workers, such as firefighters and teachers, and people over 75 must be vaccinated next.
- “If you are a 22-year-old food service worker in a supermarket, you would prefer a 74-year-old grandmother. I don’t think that’s the direction we want to go, ”said DeSantis on Tuesday.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that essential workers will not be prioritized in the state’s next round of COVID-19 vaccinations, contrary to advice from U.S. health officials.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended at a meeting on Sunday that key frontline workers and people over 75 should be next in line.
But DeSantis, a Republican, said at a news conference on Tuesday that people over 70 will come first.
“Vaccines will be targeted where the risk is greatest, and that in our elderly population,” said DeSantis. “We are not going to put young, healthy workers ahead of our elderly and vulnerable population.”
This seems to mean that young people with underlying health problems are also not being prioritized, according to the Miami Herald.
States decide who to prioritize COVID-19 vaccines. Florida has one of the highest average populations in any US state, with a fifth of people aged 65 and over, according to US Census Bureau estimates.
The governor said it would take time to administer the vaccines, considering that Florida has 4.4 million people over 65 and 3.12 million over 75.
“What I would say to the elderly population: it will be reserved for you. Not everyone will be able to do this on the first day, it will take a while for everyone to have access, ”said DeSantis. .
The CDC classified essential frontline workers as first responders (such as firefighters and police), education officials, food and agriculture workers, manufacturing workers, correction officers, US Postal workers, public transport workers and supermarket employees.
“If you are a 22-year-old food service worker in a supermarket, you would have a preference over a 74-year-old grandmother. I don’t think that’s the direction we want to go,” DeSantis told a news conference.
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“There is some confusion about who should be in line first – some say some of the younger workers – we want to be clear in Florida: we have to put our parents and grandparents first and that’s what we’re going to be And we’re going to work like hell for to be able to distribute all vaccines to the elderly who want them, “said DeSantis.
The Florida governor has ignored parts of the boards of US health officials since the pandemic began. DeSantis has not instituted a statewide masking mandate and has banned local authorities from fining Florida residents for not wearing facial covers in public.
DeSantis has not received the COVID-19 vaccine yet, but has announced that he plans to get the vaccine in “a few more months,” West Palm Beach TV reported on Monday.
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