By: Ruiti He

On Friday June 17, 2022, the pressure that medical professionals and the federal government put on the state of Florida and Governor Ron DeSantis managed to change the fact that the doctors would not be able to order coronavirus vaccines for younger kids. The change allows pediatricians and other physicians to order the vaccines for younger children.

Florida, unlike the other 49 states and the District of Columbia, did not allow health practitioners to preorder vaccines before the federal government’s June 14 deadline.

The White House heralded the decision as a “reversal” by a Republican with presidential ambitions. DeSantis has frequently positioned himself as a counterbalance to President Joe Biden. The Republican’s administration emphasized that it had not changed its stance and that orders were only be accepted after the Food and Drug Administration approved of both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for young infants and younger children. Because of this, no doses will be sent to Florida during the first and second wave of the shipments for the vaccine.

Florida doctors were unable to order these vaccines until Friday. Previously, some state officials suggested that they were to be able to get vaccines from the federal government, before the online portal for their state opened, but this was untrue.

Once the state’s healthcare providers were granted permission to order vaccines, Desantis received a message from a congressional subcommittee asking that he change his position against vaccinating young children.

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