DeSantis done with vaccinating by job; leaving out farmworkers called cruel

Despite pressure from farmworker advocates, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that he won’t prioritize any more groups for coronavirus vaccines, leaving hard-hit agricultural workers at the mercy of systems many can’t access.

Days after he agreed school employees, police and firefighters age 50 and up could get vaccinated alongside seniors, he said he is done giving priority by profession.

“We’re not doing any more occupation changes,” he said, during a press conference in Ocala. “We’re going to do an age-based approach going forward.”

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While not surprised that DeSantis ignored their pleas, those who have seen the deadly toll the virus has taken in farming communities called the decision short-sighted and cruel.

Noting that the state’s $4 billion annual agricultural industry is second only to tourism in economic impact, they said DeSantis should be willing to protect workers who are part of the backbone of Florida’s well being.

“It’s so illogical,” said Lindsay McElroy, a spokesperson for the Guatemalan Maya Center in Lake Worth Beach. “It’s not a good business decision for the agricultural industry not to be advocating for your own workers.”

Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, who also has written letters asking DeSantis to give farmworkers priority for the vaccine, said the decision hurts local workers.

Fifth largest farm county in the nation

The county is the fifth largest agricultural producer among all the counties in the nation and the biggest one east of the Mississippi River.

“I  am disappointed there is such a failure in state leadership to recognize the immense importance our farmworkers play in public safety,” she said. “They feed our families.”

Further, both said, farm laborers have born the brunt of the pandemic. 

In the county’s agriculturally rich communities in the Glades, about one in seven people has been infected, according to state health officials.

In Indiantown, a small farming community just north of the county, about one in six people has contracted the disease.

The situation became so dire in Immokalee, a farming area east of Naples, that a team from Doctors Without Borders was dispatched to help.

While the state doesn’t publicly release city-by-city breakdowns of where COVID-19 deaths occur, Florida Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried said farmworkers are at far more risk than others.

“Our teachers educate and inspire our children, yet face a one-in-four risk of severe COVID-19,” she said in a statement. “Our farmworkers feed our families, but face 39 percent greater odds of dying from the virus.”

Further, unlike other groups, many don’t have computers so they can’t book appointments for vaccines offered by Publix, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and other retailers.

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While the Palm Beach County Health Department books appointments by phone, the county’s health care district asks people to register online.

“It’s disgraceful that we have a health care system that relies on computers,” Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the county’s state-run health department, said at a forum this week. “This is something that has to change."

But, the problem is more than lack of computer access, said Laura Kallus, CEO of the Caridad Center, which operates a health clinic west of Boynton Beach that serves many migrant families.

In an effort to stop vaccine tourism, DeSantis imposed rules that require people to provide identification showing they live at least part-time in Florida before they can get shots.

Lack of ID is a problem

A large number of migrant workers simply don’t have the necessary identification, Kallus said at the forum to address how to increase the ability of minority groups to get shots.

“Many of our patients don’t have Florida IDs,” she said “It’s prohibitive all the documentation they have to show.”

Alonso said her agency and others accept other forms of identification, such as a letter from a grower, confirming that a farmworker is a resident.

While Fried said she would encourage DeSantis to reverse his decision and give farmworkers priority for vaccines, McKinlay said she would turn her attention to Washington.

She said she has joined with leaders in some of the nation’s other big agricultural counties to convince the Biden administration to act.

McElroy said the center is hoping local leaders step up. The center has access to mobile vaccination units and has nurses available to give the shots. All it needs is the vaccine, she said.

Alonso said her staff is working to convince those in high-risk communities to get vaccinated and find ways to distribute vaccines in under-served communities. 

With Publix getting the vast majority of the vaccines delivered to the county each week, she said supplies for her agency and the health care district are limited.

The county agencies split about 6,000 a week compared with the 19,000 Publix gets to distribute at 67 stores in the county. The supermarket giant booked 38,000 appointments at roughly 730 stores in the state on Friday.

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With the arrival on Friday of about 60,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines, DeSantis began holding points of distribution for the shots that were authorized for use last week.

One was held at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office where 2,000 law enforcement agents age 50 and up from four counties were vaccinated.

When the rest of the state’s two-week supply of 175,000 vaccines arrive in the coming days, DeSantis said pods would be held throughout the state for police, firefighters and school workers age 50 and up.

Alonso said the county received 12,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines on Friday but haven't been distributed. Next week, distribution plans will be in place, she said.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said it plans to set up a pod at the sheriff's office to vaccinate deputies who are age 50 and up.

Since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot, unlike the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna regime, DeSantis has said they would be ideal to distribute at doctor’s offices.

Alonso has said allowing doctors to vaccinate their own patients would help vaccination efforts “tremendously.”

Having rejected requests to give farmworkers priority, DeSantis said that he is watching the numbers closely to see how many seniors have gotten shots and increasing supplies in counties where the percentages are lagging.

As of Friday, 54% of the state’s roughly 4.5 million seniors had received at least one shot, according to state health officials. 

In Palm Beach County, the leader among the state’s urban counties, 65% of its nearly 400,000 residents over the age of 65 have gotten at least one shot.

More:Coronavirus Florida: Latest charts and case counts

Expecting other counties will catch up, DeSantis said that next week he will likely announce that those 60 and up can get vaccinated. A week later, he said he will probably drop the age of eligibility to those age 55 and over.

“That’s what we’re going to do instead of trying to pick and choose different things,” he said.

Without mentioning disparities within different groups, he said that 95.7% of COVID-19 deaths are among those 50 and older. He said that’s why he will continue to focus on older people even when he agrees that younger people can get vaccinated.

“That's how you save the most lives,” he said.

jmusgrave@pbpost.