Washington, DC – Today, Representatives Lois Frankel (D-FL-21), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Ted Deutch (FL-22), Frederica Wilson (FL-24), Charlie Crist (FL-13), Val Demings (FL-10), Al Lawson (FL-05), Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), and Darren Soto (FL-09) sent a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo condemning their handling of the vaccine rollout for children between the ages of six months and five years, and urging them to reverse course and assist in the distribution of these life-saving doses to Florida’s youngest children.

The letter states, in part, “On June 15, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted unanimously to give Emergency Use Authorization for Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in children six months to five years of age. On June 19, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all eligible children receive the safe and effective vaccine. Parents of young children have been eagerly awaiting this authorization, and your Administration’s response to this recent advancement has caused unnecessary confusion among parents and providers and threatened the health of over one million kids across the state.”

The letter continues, “You are the only governor in the United States who has refused to order these vaccines, creating obstacles for parents who want to have their child vaccinated against COVID-19. We urge you to reverse course immediately and allow all legal means of distribution.”

Governor DeSantis intentionally missed the June 14th deadline for the state to preorder vaccines for children ages six months to five years, has spread misinformation about the efficacy of these doses, and has refused to order vaccines for local health departments—withholding doses from the most vulnerable, low-income families who do not have a primary care provider.

Full text of the letter is available here.

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