NY Times analysis: The Steep Cost of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ Vaccine Turnabout

The Steep Cost of Ron DeSantis’ Vaccine Turnabout On a Saturday in September 2020, with COVID-19 killing more than 600 Americans daily and hundreds of thousands of deaths still to come, Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, heard her cellphone ring. It was Dr. Scott Rivkees, the Florida surgeon general. He was distraught. “‘You won’t believe what happened,’” she said he told her. Months before COVID vaccines would become available, Gov. Ron DeSantis had decided that the worst was over for Florida, he said. DeSant Yahoo News

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the governor now presents his COVID strategy not only as his biggest accomplishment but also as the foundation for his presidential campaign. DeSantis argues that “Florida got it right” because he was willing to stand up for the rights of individuals despite pressure from health “bureaucrats.” ...

But a close review by The New York Times of Florida’s pandemic response, including a new analysis of the data on deaths, hospitalizations and vaccination rates in the state, suggests that DeSantis’ account of his record leaves much out.

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