DeSantis defends opening of vaccine pop-up site in wealthy, mostly white community

TALLAHASSEE – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited an affluent, mostly white community in Manatee County on Wednesday to tout a pop-up vaccination site he said would make it easier to get older people vaccinated.

Republican governor already facing attacks from upset local officials, he placed the new ‘pod’ in the county’s two richest zip codes, even as racial disparities continue to affect vaccine rollout in the state, and he had a blunt message he wanted to deliver in person: If you don’t like him, we’ll leave.

“If Manatee County doesn’t like us doing this, we’re very much in favor of putting this in counties that want it,” DeSantis said at a press conference Wednesday at Lakewood Ranch, a upscale development in the county. “If you want us to send to Sarasota next time, or Charlotte or Pasco, let us know. We are happy to do so. “

The decision to locate the vaccination site in the Republican-prone area, which was first reported by the Bradenton Herald, comes as other areas of the state run out of vaccines and the governor ignores calls on the state to redouble its efforts to remedy it. racial disparities. According to state data, only 5.3% of the vaccine doses the state has administered so far have gone to black residents. Almost 17% of Florida’s population is black.

Last month, black religious leaders said the DeSantis office did not respond to them when they proposed a plan to use a network of churches and community centers in predominantly black communities to immunize millions. of people.

After DeSantis showed his trademark challenge on Wednesday, State Representative Omari Hardy (D-West Palm Beach) took to Twitter to offer a “translation” of what he interpreted DeSantis’ comments to mean: “If you criticize me in my official capacity as a public official, I will take vital resources away from your community.”

The site selection process began with a February 9 phone call from Lakewood Ranch developer and frequent GOP donor Rex Jensen, the Herald reported. Pat Neal, a developer who builds homes at Lakewood Ranch and who is also a major donor to the Florida GOP, was also at stake. He has donated $ 135,000 to the DeSantis policy committee since 2018. Neal declined to comment.

Manatee County Commissioners Misty Servia and Reggie Bellamy told the Herald that the Lakewood Ranch site chosen by DeSantis would exclusively serve affluent residents of Jensen. DeSantis has denied using postal codes to determine which communities receive the vaccine first.

“It was a choice on where there is a high concentration of older people and where you could have communities to deliver the vaccine,” DeSantis said at Wednesday’s press conference, which at times heated up. .

Lakewood Ranch reports to the district of Manatee County Commission Chairman Vanessa Baugh, a Republican, who said in a town hall meeting Tuesday night that she had little time to plan after DeSantis called Jensen.

“We did our best on very short notice,” Braugh said.

DeSantis state immunization plan prioritizes 4.5 million Florida residents over the age of 64. Data provided by the DeSantis office shows that only 29% of seniors in Manatee County have been vaccinated so far – the fourth lowest in the state. St. Johns County had the highest number of seniors vaccinated, at 67 percent. St. Johns was followed by Leon County with 66 percent and Wakulla County with 65 percent.

Highlands and Glades counties had the lowest percentage of seniors vaccinated at 25 percent.

Manatee County will receive 6,000 doses of the approximately 400,000 vaccine the state expects from the federal government in the coming days. DeSantis said he also expects 30,000 more shots to arrive, and that 3,000 of them will go to the Lakewood Ranch site, DeSantis said.

More than 2.4 million people in Florida were vaccinated against Covid-19 on Tuesday, including more than 1.8 million seniors. DeSantis said it may increase vaccine eligibility in the coming weeks as more seniors get vaccinated.

RB Holmes Jr., pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, said last month he sent a plan to DeSantis offices to use a network of churches and community centers in predominantly black neighborhoods as sites vaccination, but his proposal was ignored.

“For some reason, Florida is a bit reluctant to work collectively, with a group of volunteers reaching out to us, not their fists,” Holmes told POLITICO. “But that’s why the federal government is so important. … If it were just state rights, we would still be living under Jim Crowism.”