DeSantis faces criticism for comments on COVID-19 vaccine

Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried who is running against Governor Ron DeSantis for his seat in 2022 is calling on journalists to fact check all elected officials after DeSantis publicly said vaccines are merely a personal choice.

As COVID-19 cases continue to soar in Florida the governor is coming under fire for those comments by many of those in the medical community and on the front line of the COVID-19 battle.

The number of children being hospitalized in Florida has increased more than tenfold as the number of COVID-19 cases has skyrocketed to new heights.

“It’s about your health and whether you want protection or not. It really doesn’t impact me or anyone else,” DeSantis said.

Medical experts who have studied infectious diseases for years see things differently.

Dr. Stephanie Stovall is a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at Lee Health and she agrees with the governor that the vaccine is a personal choice.

But she also disagrees with the other half of the governor’s statement.

“The second part of the comment is where we have a problem because the reality that choices by people, particularly many people to not be vaccinated, does increase the burden of disease in a community,” Dr. Stovall explained.

She’s not alone, Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci, an advisor to every president since Ronald Reagan agrees and he weighed in.

“When you have a virus circulating in the community and you are not vaccinated you are part of the problem because you’re allowing yourself to be the vehicle for that virus to spread to someone else,” Dr. Fauci stated.

NBC-2 also talked off-camera Thursday with other medical experts who are all in agreement regarding vaccines.

For that reason, we’re ruling the governor’s comments that not getting the vaccine only affects you as false.

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