Participating in a White House vaccine summit on Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined what appeared to be the state’s final COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan.
DeSantis said the state’s proposal calls for vaccinating seniors in nursing homes before the end of December, while also getting vaccines into the hands of “high-contact” front line health-care workers in five urban areas by the end of next week.
“Then, we think, based on the numbers, at the end of December we can start getting it out into the broader senior population,” DeSantis said during a panel discussion with three other governors and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. “And then (in) January, really focus on vaccinating as many elderly people as we can.”
DeSantis offered few insights into how the state would ensure that vaccines are distributed to medically underserved people, and, instead, pivoted and criticized what he called bad information.
DeSantis initially said “communication is important” and that hospitals would conduct outreach but then shifted gears.
“This was the first vaccine that’s really been politicized, unfortunately … and that’s going to be something that people are going to have to deal with,” DeSantis said.
The Florida governor, a close ally of President Donald Trump, criticized what he labeled as “unscientific” shutdowns and said he hoped there would be evidence-based science that people could support.
“I hope we can get on the same page here (and) take politics out of it,” he said.
