As Floridians get increasingly antsy for COVID vaccines, there are growing questions about why Gov. Ron DeSantis granted Publix exclusive rights to provide vaccines in some places.
On some levels, it makes sense. Publix has stores are all over the place. And the company generally has a reputation for having its act together.
Still, in a state that is doing a slightly below-average job of distributing vaccines — more on that in a moment — I wonder why Floridians don’t have more retail options.
It seems like we’d want as many soldiers as possible in the war on COVID.
Why only Publix, whose vaccine-appointment portal filled up 90 minutes after opening Wednesday?
It’s only natural to wonder — especially after reading stories like: “Publix Vaccine Rollout Follows Grocer’s $100K Donation To DeSantis’ Political Committee.”
And “Gov. DeSantis’ office: Publix PAC money not linked to launch of COVID-19 vaccine program.”
State records show that Publix cut the last of four $25,000 checks to DeSantis’ campaign committee on Dec. 31. Five days later, DeSantis announced the state’s exclusive partnership with Publix.
DeSantis has denied there was any tit for tat.
Desantis’ denials are as credible as Trump’s claims he won the election. Republican politicians have a real problem with truth-telling.
We agree. The Republicans fail to realize they have become self serving and have sold their souls to the devil. As Representative Greene validated, they are members of the Trump Party and their desire to mimic his egregious behavior is unacceptable. We, the general public, deserve better than what is being provided.