Florida stays aloof, opts out of vaccines for kids under 6

Although the FDA on Friday approved the use of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for kids as young as 6 months, Florida decided not to pre-order any vaccine supply. 

According to the White House, doctors from Florida will have the option to directly order vaccines from the government for vaccinating kids under 5. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis made it clear that Florida would not use their resources to vaccinate young kids. However, parents will have the option to choose whether to vaccinate their kids or not. 

Hospitals and Doctors are free to get hold of the vaccine, but there will be no state-sponsored drives to get children under 6 vaccinated. Community centres, supermarket chains and Pharmacies can also directly preorder the vaccines from the federal government. 

Potential buyers could also use the Florida government’s website to order vaccines without the middle man. That being said, there was widespread confusion among the public about the DeSantis’ statement. 

DeSantis believes mandating vaccines for kids under 5 is media manipulation coupled with misinformation. 

Although more than 75,000 citizens of Florida have died from Covid, kids remain relatively unscathed from the effects of the virus. However, experts believe that the reward greatly outweighs the risk of vaccination among kids.