![]() Frederick Southwick, an infectious disease expert in Gainesville who said he spent 10 days administering thousands of shots earlier this year, added “it’s past time for him to quit his act that Florida won the pandemic.(Broward County): On April 12, 2021, County Administrator Bertha Henry issued a Declaration of Continuing Emergency, further extending the local state of emergency for 7 days beginning at 9:00 a.m. “Doctors here feel like we are back at square one again.”ĭr. Bernard Ashby, a vascular cardiologist based in Miami and Florida State Lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care. Fauci we might not be in this position,” said Dr. “If DeSantis were as concerned about stopping Covid-19 spread as he was about coming up with these clever jabs at Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the chief medical advisers to President Joe Biden. But the Florida Legislature passed a bill this spring that gives the governor veto power over local governments that impose restrictions related to public health emergencies, meaning that any new restrictions put in place by cities and counties could be quickly nixed.Įven as Covid-19 infections have soared recently, DeSantis said earlier this week he wasn’t worried about “case count” and he urged people to get vaccinated because it would prevent serious illness or death.īut a group of Florida doctors on Thursday called on DeSantis to stop his “victory lap” over his handling of Covid and end his attacks on Dr. Florida never required a statewide mask mandate and instead left it up to local cities and counties. Nearly 58 percent of all adults in Florida are fully vaccinated.įlorida imposed some lockdowns at the start of the pandemic, but quickly lifted them last summer and DeSantis pledged to never put them in place again. It’s now down to slightly more than 224,000, according to the weekly report distributed last Friday by the Florida Department of Health.Ībout 48 percent of Florida’s population is fully vaccinated, which places the state 26 th nationally among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In late May, the state reported that it was distributing more than 400,000 vaccine doses a week. It appeared to work, as the state saw its new cases and number of deaths drop.īut Florida has seen the number of vaccinations steadily decline in recent weeks. While DeSantis fought against imposing Covid-related restrictions in the state, the governor pushed ahead earlier this year with an aggressive vaccination campaign that specifically targeted older Floridians and included the creation of pop-up clinics to distribute doses. Psaki says DeSantis's stance against mask mandates for kids would be 'greatly concerning' White House press secretary Jen Psaki, when asked Thursday about DeSantis’ comments on mask mandates, replied: “If I were a parent in Florida, that would be greatly concerning to me.” Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), who announced earlier this week that he has the virus.ĭeSantis on Thursday was so adamant that students not be required to wear masks that he said he has already talked to House Speaker Chris Sprowls about holding a special legislative session to counter any potential mandates imposed by federal authorities. And even those who are vaccinated have tested positive for Covid-19, including Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who recently traveled with DeSantis to Texas, and Rep. The recent increase in coronavirus cases, however, has many worried that the pandemic is far from over and that more needs to be done to convince unvaccinated people to get protected. More than 38,000 Floridians have died since the start of the pandemic. The Republican governor, who is eyeing a 2024 presidential bid, has repeatedly touted his hands-off approach to Covid-19 that went against some of the recommendations of health authorities, but resulted in businesses remaining open and the state keeping down its mortality rate among its senior citizens, particularly in nursing homes. “Is it really healthy for them to be muzzled and having their breathing obstructed all day long in school? I don’t think it is.”ĭeSantis comments marked yet another round in his confrontational stance against federal health authorities. Ok? We need our kids to breathe,” said DeSantis during a press conference in Fort Pierce to acknowledge the signing of a bill that creates a statewide book distribution program.
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