ICYMI: DNC Chair, Florida Parent and Provider Highlight Access to Vaccines for Young Children

Speakers call out Governor DeSantis over refusal to pre-order vaccines for young kids

Today, the Democratic National Committee held a press call highlighting how, in a testament to President Biden and Democrats’ historic leadership in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, children ages six months to five years old can now get vaccinated against the virus.

Speakers, including DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, a mom, and a nurse practitioner from Florida, also called out Governor Ron DeSantis for refusing to pre-order vaccine doses for children under five years old, once again putting his quest for power over Florida families. In his own words, DeSantis said, “There’s not going to be any state programs that are going to be trying to get Covid jabs to infants and toddlers and newborns. That’s not something that we think is appropriate.”

Read highlights from the press call below.

“I also want to recognize the real frustration that parents must be feeling in Florida — where Ron Desantis refused to pre-order vaccines for kids under 5. You know, I just talked a bit about how relieved my wife and I are that we can finally get our son vaccinated. I can’t tell you how furious I would be if my governor was playing politics with my child’s health,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said. “This isn’t a partisan thing. 49 out of 50 governors are acting like adults here. They know vaccines for our children are important and they’ve made sure they’re available. But this is a pattern for Governor Desantis. He continues to put his ultra-MAGA agenda and quest for power ahead of Floridians.”

“What makes me most angry and frustrated is that the governor, who is ultimately the chief executive of our state, is playing politics with medicine. He’s politicizing something that should not be political. He’s creating controversies where they don’t need to exist,” Kevin Cho Tipton, a critical care nurse practitioner from Miami, FL, said. “The governor is politicizing medicine and it makes my job harder, and it makes the choice for parents even harder.”

“I am utterly disappointed, but not surprised, that Governor Ron DeSantis once again put his political ambitions above the health and safety of our children. He preaches so much about giving parental rights and choices, yet his actions contradict his words… By refusing to preorder the vaccine, that decision that he made took away our rights as a parent to choose whether we wanted to vaccinate our child or not,” Franzella Guido Chacon, a mother of two from Miami, FL, said. “I am sick and tired of seeing DeSantis use our children as pawns for his political ambitions.”