Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confronted over Publix-COVID vaccination deal
Publix Supermarkets, chosen by Governor DeSantis to distribute vaccines, donated to his PAC. 60 Minutes reports, Sunday.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-distribution-florida-de-santis-60-minutes-2021-04-02/
Sharyn Alfonsi investigates allegations that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made decisions about COVID vaccine distribution favoring wealthy or connected individuals, including a supermarket chain that recently donated to the governor's political action committee. DeSantis, a Republican, is up for re-election next year. Alfonsi's report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, April 4 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
Campaign finance reports obtained by 60 Minutes show weeks before the governor announced plans to distribute his state's vaccine through the pharmacies of Publix that the supermarket chain had donated $100,000 to the governor's PAC, "The Friends of Ron DeSantis." Julie Jenkins Fancelli, heir to the Publix fortune,had previously donated $55,000 to the PAC and her brother-in-law another $25,000. Publix, like any entity distributing the vaccine, can charge Medicare $40 per shot for seniors. Publix has not yet responded to 60 Minutes' request for comment about the donations.
The decision to use Publix to distribute also led to allegations the vaccine rollout was favoring wealthier people. In Palm Beach County, where nearly half the population is minorities, about 5% of the more than 160,000 residents who were vaccinated by February 1 were Black or Hispanic. There are many Publix supermarkets in the county but they are located in primarily upscale neighborhoods. The nearest Publix to The Glades, a rural section of the county where 90% of the 31,000 residents are minorities, was 25 miles away and a two-bus trek for people without private transportation.
For this and other controversial decisions, Democrats are calling for the Justice Department to investigate whether DeSantis was rewarding high-dollar donors with special access to the vaccine. One of them is Florida Representative Omari Hardy.
"At the beginning of this pandemic, Black people, Hispanics, people of color, we bore the full force of this pandemic," Hardy tells Alfonsi. "Overrepresented in the hospitalizations. Overrepresented in the deaths. And now on the back end of the pandemic we're bearing the full force of it as well. Because we don't have the same access to the vaccine. This is a once in a century pandemic. Someone shouldn't have a better chance to survive because they have money or because they can write a check to someone, or because they have access to powerful people."
At a news conference when Alfonsi pointed out that his decision to award distribution to Publix came right after a political donation to his PAC, Governor DeSantis said the inference was "wrong." He then said, "That-- that's a fake narrative. I met with the county mayor. I met with the administrator. I met with all the folks in Palm Beach County and I said, 'here's some of the options. We can do more drive-thru sites. We can give more to hospitals. We can do the Publix.' And they said, 'We think that would be the easiest thing for our residents.'"
