Nearly every elderly resident of a luxury community in the Florida Keys was vaccinated against COVID-19 by January, as the rest of the state struggled to get vaccinations, the Miami Herald reports.
A community newsletter obtained by the Herald showed that the majority of people 65 and older living in the Ocean Reef Club community were vaccinated at the beginning of the new year.
The exclusive Key Largo community is home to many political donors, especially members of the Florida Republican Party who have donated money to government. Ron DeSantis
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In the newsletter, the management of the private community wrote that more than 1,200 homeowners who qualify under the mandate of the state have been vaccinated over two weeks.
The newsletter also acknowledges the difference between access to vaccines by residents of the Ocean Reef Club community and those of other people 65 and older in the state.
“We are fortunate to have received enough vaccines to ensure the first and second for those vaccinated,” the Herald newsletter said.
“At the moment, however, the majority of the state has not yet allocated the first doses of vaccines for this week and beyond, and the timing of subsequent deliveries remains unclear.”
DeSantis has been under scrutiny over the past few months over its vaccine distribution plan. He is accused of giving certain communities better access to the vaccine by enabling them to go through community organizations, including the Medical Center at Ocean Reef, instead of through local or state registration systems, according to the Herald.
The governor of the Sunshine State apparently denied earlier that he had given special treatment to certain communities.
“There are people who are more upset about me for vaccinating seniors than for other governors whose policies have killed seniors, and that’s a joke,” DeSantis was quoted as saying by the Herald.
He also defended his state’s lack of a clear vaccine vaccination plan.
‘If you notice, a lot of it [states] plans, and then they already had to change the plans, “DeSantis said last week. We did not do that. “
DeSantis’ office and the Ocean Reef Club did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.