Hospital, county contradict Desantis’ claim about role in residents’ vaccines
MIAMI >> After Gov. Ron Desantis claimed “the state was not involved” in arranging for more than 1,200 Keys residents in the wealthy Ocean Reef community to get accelerated access to the COVID-19 vaccine in January, both Baptist Health South Florida — which supplied the doses — and Monroe County have contradicted his claims, saying the distribution was authorized by the state.
“It is our understanding that the Medical Center at Ocean Reef asked the state of Florida for vaccine doses, and the state of Florida asked Baptist Health to take delivery of the doses to our ultra-cold freezer storage for delivery to the Medical Center at Ocean Reef,’’ said Dori A. Alvarez, spokesperson for Baptist Health Systems in a statement to the Herald/times late Friday.
According to a Jan. 22 newsletter sent to residents of the exclusive Ocean Reef Club and obtained by the Miami Herald, the Medical Center at Ocean Reef reported: “Over the course of the last two weeks, the Medical Center has vaccinated over 1,200 homeowners who qualify under the state of Florida’s governor’s current order for those individuals who are 65 years of age or older. We are fortunate to have received enough vaccines to ensure both the first and second for those vaccinated.”
The message also acknowledged that doses were in short supply: “At this time, however, the majority of the state has not received an allocation of first doses of vaccines for this week and beyond, and the timing of any subsequent deliveries remains unclear.” The governor has come under increasing criticism for establishing himself as the gatekeeper of vaccine distribution in Florida, as he directed doses to select communities while his political committee raised more than $3.9 million from donors, some of whom are affiliated with the vaccine locations.
At a news conference Thursday, Desantis chose his words carefully. He denied that the Ocean Reef was a “state site” but did not deny that he or the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which distributes vaccines, had a role in authorizing it to be one of the early sites. Desantis and FDEM have refused to publicly release the criteria used to select the timing and locations of the vaccine distribution.
“That was not a state site,’’ Desantis told reporters “It was not anything that the state set up. It was done through one of the hospital systems that had vaccine.” He added, “My view is is, if you’re 65 and up, I’m not worried about your income bracket, I’m worried about your age bracket, because it’s the age, not the income that shows the risk.”
But questions remain about how Ocean Reef was authorized to receive the early doses at a time when supply was scarce. Baptist Health System President and CEO Brian Keeley and his wife own a home in Ocean Reef, according to Monroe County property records. Alvarez, the Baptist Health spokesperson, refused to comment on whether Keeley was instrumental in getting a pilot program in January for his Ocean Reef neighbors to get access to the doses. On Jan. 19, Just three days before the Ocean Reef email to residents, Baptist Health was forced to cancel appointments for hundreds of members of the general public who had signed up to get a vaccination because it had run out of supply.