PRESIDENT? De Santis’ State Only One Not Preordering Toddler COVID Shots, Place State Behind Others

The guy covers his ass with his anti-vaxx constituents…

June 18, 2022~MIAMI (AP) — Florida is the only state that hasn’t preordered COVID-19 vaccines for toddlers, and Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he won’t facilitate their distribution.

Imagine if we had another pandemic and DeSantis was president…

Florida parents…. not preordering the vaccines could mean delaying their availability in children’s hospitals and other facilities that have relied on state distribution of the shots.

The final OK could come this weekend for vaccines for kids under 5. The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up Wednesday to kid-size doses from Pfizer and Moderna for children as young as 6 months, deciding the benefits of the shots outweigh any risks.

Jean-Pierre, at a news conference in Washington, said parents would be able to access children’s vaccines through federal distribution channels at pharmacies and community health centers, “but those are limited options.”

“We encouraged Florida on several occasions to order vaccines,” Jean-Pierre said. By not doing so, the state “will not have immediate, ready access to some,” she said.

Florida officials said the jabs would be available at pharmacies and community health centers, which can preorder them directly from the federal government, and that children’s hospitals and other clinics would be able to order them from the federal government via a state portal and receive them quickly.

Preordering the shots would mean the Florida health department would stockpile them, ship them to county-level health departments and then out to the hospitals. Hospitals that use the portal will be receiving the shots directly from the federal government, washing DeSantis clean of pushing for the shot with his constituents.

Dr. Michelle Kirwan, a chief medical officer and pediatrician at the Center for Family and Child Enrichment in the suburb of Miami Gardens, said the center gets its supply directly through a federal program.

But she said she was concerned that the state not facilitating the program might confuse parents. She also said some children in this age group may be at a higher risk and their families don’t know it yet.

“I think it adds to the anxiety, which leads to indecision and delays,” Dr. Kirwan said. “They will say ‘Who do I listen to?’ Is this going to harm my baby?’ They are between a rock and a hard place.”