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Corrupt and Ineffective from the Start: Governor DeSantis’ Disastrous Vaccine Rollout.
Governor DeSantis has been playing politics with the vaccine rollout from the very beginning, but recent reporting has shown just how corrupt the whole process has been.
Notably, in January when the majority of Florida seniors were struggling to even get vaccine appointments, nearly 1200 of the age 65+ residents of the ultra wealthy Key Largo enclave, Ocean Reef were already vaccinated. This is on top of the other vaccine pop-up sites that have shown up in wealthy communities full of DeSantis donors.
All the while, Florida’s Black and brown residents, especially those in more vulnerable communities, have been left behind. As of March 1st only 6% of Floridians who had received vaccines were Black, despite the fact that Black Floridians make up over 15% of our population.
And on top of it all, Governor DeSantis had the audacity to say that the vaccine process is better without a clear plan.
In response, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz released the following statement.
Governor DeSantis has let political favoritism guide vaccine access here in Florida from the very start— showing a level of public corruption that is not only despicable, but also life threatening for many Floridians. The Governor made sure that the wealthy and well connected communities where his donors live received vaccine access first, a policy that has come at the expense of our vulnerable Black and brown communities and essential workers. Because of DeSantis’ blatant corruption, many of those who were hit hardest by the virus have been left out of the vaccine process entirely.
The Florida Democratic Party also applauds the Democratic leaders here in Florida who have called for federal and state level investigations. It is their leadership that will help us all hold Governor DeSantis accountable.
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