The Los Angeles Post

DeSantis takes aim at vaccine, mask mandates

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling for long-term rules against school mask mandates and workplace vaccine requirements, reports John Kennedy at USA Today. The move is widely seen as part of his presumed candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Florida enacted temporary laws against such mandates in late 2021, but those regulations expire in June. DeSantis now seeks to make the bans permanent, framing the issue as central to Floridians’ freedom.
Florida state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell accused DeSantis of spreading “a dangerous message,” reports CNN.
DeSantis’ stance against protective COVID measures is part of a major reversal; he touted vaccines as lifesavers in early 2021.
It places him well to the right of his likely rival for the Republican nomination, former President Donald Trump, whose Operation Warp Speed supported COVID-vaccine development.
DeSantis’ politics are having impact as far away as Las Vegas, where last week the Elko County Board of Health considered a moratorium on both COVID and flu vaccines.
The item was placed on the agenda by a concerned resident, who also suggested pausing local vaccine advertisements due to the ongoing Florida Supreme Court case “to investigate the wrongdoing related to COVID-19 vaccines,” reports Jessica Hill at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The Board of Health decided it had no authority to block the vaccines and noted it does not advertise the vaccines beyond telling people where to get them.