UPDATE (June 17, 2022 1:24 p.m. ET): This story has been updated to reflect Florida’s partial reversal on ordering Covid vaccine doses for children.
A few months into the pandemic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis thought it’d be a good idea to order a million doses of hydroxychloroquine. The Republican governor either didn’t know or didn’t care that the medication was ineffective against Covid-19, and medical professionals throughout the state had no interest in the drug that was irrelevant to the public health crisis.
More than a year later, the Biden administration dropped two antibody Covid treatments when the drugmakers themselves conceded they were ineffective against the omicron variant. DeSantis expressed outrage, saying the White House should continue to make the treatments available anyway because … well, the Floridian never fully explained why he wanted the public to have access to medications that don’t work. (The White House described the governor’s position as “crazy,” which seemed fair.)
Now, as young children finally become eligible for Covid vaccines, 49 states have ordered doses for the public. NBC News reported on the only state that, at least at first, chose not to.
Florida parents with kids under 5 years old may find themselves waiting longer than the rest of the country to get their youngest children vaccinated against Covid since state officials have decided not to order any doses for that age group. Florida is the only state that hasn’t submitted a request with the federal government for doses of the Covid vaccine specifically tailored for children ages six months to five years in anticipation of U.S. regulators giving clearance for that age bracket as early as this weekend, said a person familiar with the matter.
To be sure, the Food and Drug Administration has authorized Covid vaccines for young children, though the policy will still need approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before shots are administered. CDC approval is expected to happen as early as this weekend.
But DeSantis — the one who ordered a million unused doses of hydroxychloroquine and demanded delivery of antibody treatments that don’t work — said yesterday that his administration would not to order the vaccine for Florida’s children.
White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain noted this morning, “Florida is the only of the 50 states not working with the administration to give parents the choice of taking their child to their pediatrician to get their youngest kids vaccinated.”
It’s an important point: DeSantis wasn’t just making a recommendation that’s at odds with federal public health officials, he also appeared to make a decision about his state’s vaccine supply. If parents in Florida disagreed with their far-right governor, and wanted to protect their young children from a dangerous contagion, those parents would’ve found it vastly more difficult than families in literally every other state.
As recently as yesterday, DeSantis publicly defended the move, which made it all the more surprising when his administration, facing significant political pushback, apparently decided to change course. The Miami Herald reported this afternoon:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is now allowing healthcare providers, including pediatricians and children’s hospitals, to order COVID-19 vaccines from a federal program for children between six months and 5 years old, a reversal from earlier this week, White House officials told McClatchy. The decision will expand access to pediatric coronavirus vaccines for parents across the state, which, under DeSantis’ previous position, would have been limited to seeking vaccines at a select number of community health centers and facilities participating in a federal retail pharmacy program.
If the reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, is accurate, it suggests this is a partial reversal: The state of Florida isn’t ordering vaccines to help protect young kids, but it’s allowing providers in the state to do so.









