DeSantis Threatens to Pull Vaccine From Neighborhoods That Complain [View all]

Two of Florida’s newest vaccine clinics have something in common: they’re both in wealthy, white areas, and they both have ties to allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis. As the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported Tuesday, the state recently established two pop-up vaccine clinics: one in the state’s Manatee County, exclusively available to residents of zip codes represented by county commissioner Vanessa Baugh, a top DeSantis ally; and one in Charlotte County, in a gated community developed by former Republican state senator Pat Neal, who wrote in a press release that DeSantis had reached out to him personally. In a statement, a spokesperson for DeSantis told the Herald-Tribune that “the goal is to vaccinate as many seniors as efficiently as possible, and working with senior living communities is a common sense approach, both administratively and logistically.”

According to the Sun-Sentinel, DeSantis responded to the allegations of favoritism on Wednesday by threatening to pull vaccines from the county altogether. “If Manatee County doesn’t like us doing this, we are totally fine with putting this in counties that want it,” he said. “I wouldn’t be complaining.”