South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
As cases skyrocket, DeSantis quiet on shots
Dems step up calls for renewed vaccine push
TALLAHASSEE — When COVID-19 vaccines first became available at the end of 2020, Gov. Ron DeSantis held several events throughout the state urging people, especially the elderly, to get the shots.
But since May he’s said little about the need for vaccinations and has stopped conducting events in person. Instead, he’s relied on Florida Department of Health ads to get the word out on cable, streaming services, radio and social media.
As the pandemic surges in Florida more than two months later, Democrats have stepped up their calls for DeSantis to get out in front of the push for more people to get the vaccine.
“Leading the nation in new COVID-19 cases is not something to be proud of, in fact, it is downright shameful. Because it didn’t have to be this bad,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried told reporters Wednesday. “While some may want to stick their head in the sand and pretend that this pandemic is over, or even worse — that this is just a seasonal virus that will go away — we are very much still in a major health crisis in our state.”
Fried is running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022, seeking to oust DeSantis from his seat. She said she will release statistics on new cases from the CDC on a more regular basis, sometimes daily, since DeSantis’
Department of Health stopped issuing daily COVID-19 reports two months ago, switching to weekly reports. The CDC numbers, though, are given to them by the DOH.
Fried also is running PSAs on Fox News urging people to get vaccinated, with ads that feature herself suggesting DeSantis won’t tell people to get the shot.
Other Democrats have also called for DeSantis to take the latest surge more seriously. Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, wrote to DeSantis asking him for daily reports of local cases. Sen. Annette Taddeo, D-Miami, wrote to DeSantis Tuesday asking him to issue a new state of emergency. DeSantis let the prior state of emergency for COVID-19, which had been in effect for 16 months, lapse on June 26.
It’s not just Democrats who are raising alarm bells. Republicans in Florida and around the country have also stressed greater urgency for the public to get vaccinated and take proper precautions when among crowds.
“The tone of the calls I’ve had today with health care professionals is sobering,” Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, posted on Twitter on Monday. “Young patients fighting for their lives in the ICU, diminishing hospital capacity and staff shortages due to covid
infection or exposure. PLEASE get vaccinated!”
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., used leftover campaign funds to pay for ads urging people to get the vaccine.
GOP Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said last week “it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.”
Less than 34% of Alabama residents were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, the lowest in the nation. Florida’s rate is 48.6%, 25th among states and Washington, D.C.
DeSantis, who was vaccinated in April, is unlikely to bend on his stance against new restrictions or step up his calls for more people to get the vaccine. He held a secret meeting Monday with a group of doctors opposed to mask requirements, especially in schools, alleging they are ineffective against COVID-19 and harmful to children. One panelist called masking children “child abuse.”
At the same time, DeSantis’ popularity within the GOP ranks has grown and has become a top choice for Republicans for the 2024 nomination, if former President Donald Trump doesn’t run himself.
DeSantis’ 2022 reelection campaign is selling merchandise bashing Anthony Fauci, a top infectious disease expert and advisor to the Trump and Biden administrations during the pandemic.
And as COVID-19 cases have risen, DeSantis has jetted to California for a fundraiser and gave a speech to a gathering of the American Legislative Exchange Council in Utah on Wednesday slamming the latest CDC recommendations that vaccinated people wear masks indoors.
DeSantis also has consistently pushed back on critics of his approach throughout the pandemic. The dire predictions from some experts that Florida would fare worse than other states because of DeSantis’ decisions — reopening bars, restaurants and other businesses more quickly than other states and insisting that public schools be open for in-person classes if parents choose to send their children — has led him to scoff at similar critics now.
He especially decried the latest CDC guidance as “not based on science” during a Wednesday Fox News appearance and noted it reversed a previous guideline that vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks.
“Mandating masks for vaccinated people erodes public trust and confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccines,” DeSantis told Fox News. “To me, it appears that the government wants to be perceived as ‘doing something’ during a seasonal infection surge, even if their policy does not necessarily make people safer.”
Florida saw 16,038 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, the highest one-day total since Jan. 15, and accounting for 20% of new cases in the country.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings declared a state of emergency Wednesday as cases surged and local hospital systems such as AdventHealth saw hospitalizations reach 1,000, more than the January peak of 900. Demings also set an Aug. 31 deadline for county workers to get vaccinated or be terminated.
The Broward County School Board is testing DeSantis’ wishes against mask mandates by staying with a requirement that students wear masks at schools. DeSantis has repeatedly said he’s willing to call a special session to prevent school districts from mandating masks.
During the latest surge, DeSantis has noted 85% of Floridians 65 and older have received the vaccine, the group most likely to die or suffer severe symptoms. He’s also brushed off criticism from Democrats, who slammed him at the beginning of the year when he held events setting up stations to get the shots because some found their way to his wealthy donors at a time when the vaccines were scarce.
Much of the public, too, is weary of the pandemic-induced restrictions and mask requirements. An antimask mandate crowd briefly halted a Broward School Board meeting this week as it considered keeping the mask mandate for schools for the upcoming year.