DeSantis defends prioritizing elderly in vaccine rollout
Gov. says ‘ putting seniors first was the right decision’
Gov. Ron DeSantis defended Florida’s rollout of the vaccine to older and vulnerable residents at The Villages mega- retirement community on Tuesday, saying he was ahead of other states in prioritizing seniors.
Long lines, faulty appointment websites, jammed phone lines and blindsided local officials marred Florida’s push to offer the shot to seniors.
But DeSantis said he made the right call to rush out the vaccine to seniors. He touted state statistics showing that almost 350,000 people older than 65 had received their first dose as of Tuesday.
“Putting seniors first was the right decision,” DeSantis said. “If you look at Florida in terms of the number of shots that we have for senior citizens, we are leading the country by a country mile on this. The vast majority of our shots have gone to people 65 and up.”
DeSantis broke with initial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which would have put essential workers like grocery store employees, teachers and postal workers ahead of healthy seniors between the ages of 65- 74.
On Tuesday, officials said the Trump administration is asking states to speed delivery of the vaccine to seniors by not holding back the second dose.
the counting of electoral votes t hat made President- el ect Joe Biden’s victory official. DeSantis left a morning news conference on Tuesday in The Villages, devoted mostly to COVID- 19, after taking two questions related to violent protests. As he departed, a reporter could be heard shouting, “Governor, should
President Trump be held accountable?”
DeSantis said people shouldn’t worry about the FBI warning that protests are planned this weekend in all 50 state capitals and said Florida authorities are prepared to stop any disorder that erupts.
“I don’t want to see that, but if anything is disorderly, we are going to act very quickly. Don’t worry about that,” DeSantis said. “I don’t care why you’re doing it. You’re not doing it here. So if there is any type of disorder we will have the reinforcements there. I don’t know that I’ve gotten anything specific for it, but that would not be advisable for people to want to do that in the state of Florida.”
DeSant i s , a s t a u n c h supporter of Trump, has supported the contention by the president and many of his followers, that the elections in some Biden states were problematic. Courts, elected officials and many leading Republicans have said there is no evidence to support such claims.
On Tuesday, DeSantis praised the handful of arrests since the Washington riot. “I actually am glad to see some of these people getting arrested from the D. C. thing because I think that the prosecutions will really make a difference,” he said.
He also said there are different level of responsibility among those who massed in Washington. “I think it was a really unfortunate thing. I think that a lot of the people that probably went to that speech were just going to do what t hey normally do. But those folks who took it to the violent level they need to be held accountable. It’s just unacceptable to do that. It really, really a sad thing to see.”
On Tuesday, the governor repeatedly touted anti- mob l egislation he proposed it last year in response to occasional violent protests that erupted as part of the racial reckoning i n the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd; the vast majority of Florida protests were peaceful.
DeSantis also praised the Capitol Police for handling the pro- Trump riot in a way that avoided much greater loss of life. At least five people died during or because of the riot.