ORLANDO, Fla. — Amid backlash from political rivals, medical professionals and senior federal government officials alike, Gov. Rick DeSantis on Monday morning reaffirmed his decision not to preorder newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines or offer them at state health departments.
“We are not going to have any programs where we’re trying to jab 6-month-old babies with mRNA,” he said during a news conference at The Pig Bar-B-Q in Callahan. “We still have not ordered it. We’re not going to order it.”
Florida is the only U.S. state that did not preorder COVID-19 vaccines for kids under 5 before the Food and Drug Administration authorized them. After the FDA granted an emergency use authorization Friday, the state allowed health care providers to place orders for the vaccines, something providers in other states had been able to do since June 3.
