Florida’s lackluster vaccination performance is a product of DeSantis’ erratic leadership

The next logical step in the coronavirus nightmare was a vaccination program, so why is Florida in a distribution crisis with fewer vaccines on hand than a state this size demands?

Why is there not a logical appointment system that works for everyone?

The finger-pointing leads to the federal government, which distributes vaccines to the states. But the responsibility in Florida for the lack of an early, clear and coherent distribution plan lies with one man, the governor.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is presiding over the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine with the same erratic, self-serving leadership style he displayed when the virus invaded Florida. And when he prematurely opened Florida without a mask mandate.

Touring the state for photo-ops as if he were running for office, the governor has turned vaccination into the same ineffective dog-and-pony show of self-promotion that allowed unchecked COVID transmission to progress in the state.

He’s not helping Floridians. He’s confusing them, sending them to flock to places that empty out of vaccines right away.

One day, he says Black churches will get the vaccines because the virus has disproportionately affected the AfricanAmerican community, which is true — and people swarm churches with requests for vaccine appointments that aren’t available.

Then, he stands before Publix stores in the Panhandle — the supermarket giant is a major donor to DeSantis’ political action committee — and announces vaccines will be available through Publix pharmacies, too. Guess what happens?

You call Publix, which sends you to their website, which says, even as the governor is speaking: “All available COVID-19 vaccine appointments at Publix Pharmacy have been claimed.”

And, anyhow, South Florida need not apply.

What a bad joke on desperate Floridians.

Once again, we’re suffering from lack of credible information coming from the state amid another unprecedented breakout of widespread community transmission.

On Tuesday, after weeks of record numbers of post-holiday infections never seen before, Florida reached a macabre milestone, topping 1.5 million cases of coronavirus cases.

Floridians are desperate to be vaccinated — but for most of them, the search for available vaccine sites leads to dead-end.

The Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 vaccination program is as elusive as the statewide mask mandate that never came from Tallahassee.

The system in place, if it can be called a system, isn’t working.

To give you an example of what people are going through, this was my morning today:

An elderly neighbor who qualifies for the vaccine sees me walking and asks me if I have any pull to get him an appointment. His daughter, a doctor, had been unsuccessful.

No, I don’t have any palanca, Miami street lingo for leverage. He wouldn’t need anyone to exercise influence if there was a centralized appointment schedule in place, organized by age groups.

But this is Miami, where lanca does rule.

And no sooner than I walk in the door, than I get a text from a friend recommending that I get on a certain Miami-Dade hospital’s queue to get the vaccine

paeven though I don’t qualify and I’m not seeking an appointment.

“I know several people who have gone to get their vaccines there and elsewhere, and they don’t ask any questions,” she said.

No, thank you, I’m not skipping ahead of the line. I’ll wait my turn.

I have a 65+ friend who has been trying to get one since this all began without results.

Next, I get a return phone call from a nursing home administrator in Broward. He tells me that he got some of the first batches of vaccines distributed in Florida, but, unbelievably, 60 percent of his staff declined to get vaccinated for fear of a reaction.

Now all seems to be well with the vaccine, but it’s too late for the first round, and now they want it. He doesn’t know when he’ll get more beyond the second dose for the 40 percent vaccinated.

Meanwhile, another friend who has been desperately calling everywhere to get her 80-yearold mother and mother-in-law appointments, has been telling me for weeks about friends in New York and New Jersey who are younger than we are and have gotten their vaccine.

I’m incredulous, but indeed they seem better organized up

North.

If you go on the New York or New Jersey health department websites on how the COVID-19 vaccine is being distributed, you get easy access to straight-ahead information.

There’s not a single mention of either state’s governor.

In New York’s case, there’s only Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard A. Zucker, who reassures the public that vaccines are “safe and effective.”

“When it’s your turn, I urge you to get vaccinated to protect yourself and your community from COVID-19,” he says. “To stop the spread now, continue to follow all health guidelines. Together we will beat this virus.”

When you get to Florida’s website you get iffy, confusing information that’s supposed to be updated but isn’t — and DeSantis press releases.

“Governor DeSantis announces . . .”

Governor DeSantis provides . . .”

Likewise, when you sign up for vaccine alerts from the state.

It’s all about making the governor look good, not about meeting the public’s needs.

Meanwhile, in New York, teachers are getting vaccines.

Like the unemployment website that kept desperate people from being able to apply for benefits as COVID crashed Florida’s economy, DeSantis owns this debacle, too.