Vanessa Baugh admitted Thursday that she “wanted to make sure people were on the list” for vaccination after emails revealed that she had ordered provincial officials to compile a list to make her and others jump. In response to criticism that provincial officials only allowed residents of the two richest zip codes in the country to be vaccinated during the event, Baugh further admitted that she herself chose the zip codes.
Baugh apologized at a public land commissioner’s meeting on Thursday for criticism of the ‘pop-up’ vaccination site, but said that if I got the chance again, ‘I will do exactly what I did this time.’ Baugh further explained that she ‘did exactly what (DeSantis) wanted’ to organize the vaccine.
On Tuesday, during another public commissioner meeting, Baugh said the vaccine was initiated by DeSantis, a Republican, and that real estate developer Rex Jensen was involved. A news release on the Manatee County website said it was aiming to vaccinate 3,000 people over three days.
“Commissioner Baugh has asked that we draw up a list of those in the vaccination pool, who have listed 34202 and 34211 as their place of residence,” Jacob Saur, director of public safety in Manatee County, wrote on Feb. 12.
Manatee County commissioners voted on Jan. 6 to create a system that would distribute vaccines through a system designed to be fairer, according to a source in the Manatee County government. Instead of people scrambling to sign up for the first available vaccine appointments when available, vaccine appointments are distributed throughout Manatee County through a random draw to people eligible to be in the lottery pool.
Although Baugh instructed provincial employees to deviate from the protocol, she and the rest of the commissioners voted unanimously in favor on 6 January.
At a Tuesday public provincial commissioner meeting, County Administrator Cheri Coryea confirmed that in planning the governor’s pop-up drive, she told Baugh that they should use the random pool and not pick and choose people with zip codes. One of the emails CNN received through a public records request indicates that the province continues to use the random pool.
A separate email, also obtained by CNN through a public records request, shows that Baugh does not stop there. It shows on February 15 that she also ordered that she, Jensen and three others be allowed to cut the line.
A source who is informed about how the planning process was carried out calls it a ‘VIP list’. Two of the individuals on the GDP list also lived outside the two zip codes instructed by Baugh. All five people on the list were qualified to get the vaccine, but by adding it to the GDP list, Baugh guaranteed that they would skip the queue by giving them appointments.
Census records show that the two zip codes in Manatee County have the highest household income and are overwhelmingly white. According to the Florida Department of Health, the two zip codes also have the lowest infection rates in the country in Covid-19.
Although DeSantis said the choice of zip codes “is a choice about where a high concentration of seniors is,” Baugh made it clear that she was behind the decision.
“That was my idea,” Baugh said during Wednesday’s meeting, but did not provide an explanation for her reasoning.
“I think instead of everyone seeming to have a problem, we need to realize that it is 3,000 people who will now be removed from our register, who will hopefully open it up faster to everyone who remains,” she said.
Although Baugh used provincial staff and resources, fellow commissioners at the public meeting on Tuesday said they had not been consulted or notified about the pop-up. They first found out via the local newspaper.
CNN contacted Baugh for comment, but received no response.
Lisa Barnott, spokeswoman for Jensen and Lakewood Ranch, said in a statement to CNN that their involvement with the clinic was only “to identify premises that could accommodate 1,000 people a day.”
“(Baugh) coordinated the use of the website, as well as the use of the Manatee County registry for people who signed up for vaccinations,” Barnott said in the statement.
Barnott did not respond to inquiries about Jensen that was included on the so-called GDP list.
Manatee County was previously praised by DeSantis for their effectiveness in vaccinating people and setting up one of the first through-the-road vaccination programs in the US. Now the governor has threatened to withhold additional doses from the province after the person he put in charge – Baugh – was criticized. DeSantis has not criticized Baugh or her methodology in organizing his vaccine station.
“If Manatee County does not like us doing this, it’s perfectly fine to place it in provinces that want it,” DeSantis said.
CNN contacted DeSantis’ press office for comment and received no response.