"DeSantis for the win" -- yet another end of the year award Ron DeSantis Is TNR’s 2020 Scoundrel of the Year An heir to Trumpism, the Florida governor has concealed the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and fomented a depraved indifference to human life. https://newrepublic.com/article/160608/ron-desantis-florida-new-republic-2020-scoundrel-year
Stop the presses! Left wing editorial at extreme left news outlet (your source): doesn't like right wing governor??
Whistleblower Jones likely to irk DeSantis again: She’s Forbes’ “Technology Person of the Year” https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2020...in-shes-forbes-technology-person-of-the-year/ Over the weekend, Forbes Magazine, one of the best known business publications in America, selected Jones, who created a highly praised COVID-19 data tracking system, as the Forbes “Technology Person of the Year.” Forbes says Jones “is the latest technologist who stepped up to fill the vacuum left by governments during COVID-19.”
They are truthful when reporting factual information. According to that source - which I used. So I have to acknowledge that. Unfortunately for you, this isn't an article with factual reporting. It is an editorial, otherwise known as an opinional. So the only thing relevant is the Ultra Left. I could have just done what you did and said "new republic lol" and left it at that. But I try to make posts with a bit more substance. Let me know when you're tired of stepping into this thread to get a beatdown, wouldja - OR if you have some good analysis and data to contribute. I welcome that, by the way.
editorials opinions can be backed with evidence. Didn't bother to read since they're just stating the obvious to anyone observing the facts.
The DeSantis administration's rollout of the COVID vaccine in Florida is going about as well as you'd expect --- considering the incompetent running the state. Long lines, crashing websites, conflicting information confound COVID-19 vaccine rollout to Florida seniors https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-out-seniors-gets-off-rocky-start/4067324001/
"DeSantis for the win" -- Let's see how his rollout of the vaccine for the elderly is doing. MAGA Retirement Enclave Is Ground Zero in Florida Vaccine Shitshow https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-v...y-are-ground-zero-in-florida-vaccine-shitshow From claims of flagrant partisan favoritism to fears of getting sick in long lines, the rollout is not going smoothly in a state where the governor’s COVID skepticism is legendary. On Christmas Eve, Dr. Jeff Lowenkron, a top doctor in The Villages, delivered an ominous holiday message to residents about the spread of coronavirus in Florida’s most politically infamous retirement community. As the chief medical officer for The Villages Health, a health-care provider that operates six clinics in the sprawling central Florida development, Lowenkron has access to real-time stats about new cases and hospitalizations. According to his Dec. 24 weekly email newsletter, a copy of which was shared with The Daily Beast, Lowenkron revealed that the two main hospitals were treating 94 patients with COVID-19, of whom 19 were in the intensive care units. “Local hospitalization numbers for COVID are at the highest they have been and are rising,” Lowenkron warned. “The Villages Health has seen an increase in positive test numbers in our test sites, as well as among our staff who are treating patients.” But Lowenkron didn’t give a timetable for when Villagers could expect to get vaccinated. This even though Gov. Ron DeSantis had just days earlier used the Trumpian retiree stronghold as the backdrop for his big announcement that, unlike much of the rest of the country, Florida would be prioritizing senior citizens over essential workers. "Those people who got the vaccine have put in long years of service and all of them are within the age group to qualify for it." -- — John Calandro, former president of the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee On Tuesday, Shirley Schantz, a 73-year-old retired nurse, said she had not gotten any more information about The Villages Health’s vaccine rollout plan since Lowenkron’s mass email. “There seems to be no plan,” Schantz said. “If there is a plan, most of the residents don’t know about it.” What is certain is that five Republican Villagers who have held elected office or positions within local GOP clubs were among those who received the vaccine last week when DeSantis held the press conference at the UF Health The Villages Hospital. The Republican Villagers’ starring roles ignited criticisms from their Democratic counterparts and the editorial board of the online newspaper The Villages-News, which was the first to report on the quintet’s Republican connections, as well as their ties to Mark Gary Morse. The president of The Villages development company, Morse and his family have a long history as Republican Party rainmakers, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Morse’s executive assistant said her boss was out of the office until next week and unavailable for comment, and attempts to reach the local Republicans who got early vaccines were unsuccessful. Critics accused DeSantis of a shameless, GOP-first photo-op to make him look good amid all the bad press he’s been getting for his uber-libertarian intransigence regarding mask mandates, business lockdowns, and social distancing. In the following days, DeSantis’ vaccine rollout has been roundly slammed by infectious disease experts, and turned into a logistical mess for the county offices of the state health department. But it was the appearance of naked partisanship—hordes of GOP voters in The Villages powered Republicans into statewide office once again in November—that marked a fresh fiasco in a state where Gov. DeSantis can’t seem to get anything right on COVID. “One of the principles of effective communication is being fully transparent,” said Dr. Marissa Levine, a University of South Florida infectious disease professor. “By him giving the appearance that this is politically driven, his communication has not been effective. That undermines the whole framework.” DeSantis should base his decision making on strong data and an ethical framework given the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine is currently outpacing the supply, Levine added. “Was it just him who made the decision or was it informed through a process that ensures equity?” she asked. “We really haven’t heard that.” The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment. John Calandro, former president of the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee, dismissed the criticisms. He noted the five Republican Villagers were between their late sixties and mid-eighties. “Those people who got the vaccine have put in long years of service and all of them are within the age group to qualify for it,” Calandro told The Daily Beast. “I don’t know how they were selected. I think if they would have picked four [Villagers] off the street, people would have complained. I am just happy we are going to be a target community [to get the vaccine].” Suffice it to say his Democratic neighbors feel rather differently. “Even in the time of the coronavirus, it all depends on who you know,” Marsha Shearer, a director for The Villages Democratic Club, told The Daily Beast. “I think it comes down to who votes Republican among the old people who live in The Villages.” Instead of pandering to elderly folks, DeSantis should have prioritized giving the vaccine to essential workers such as teachers, teachers’ aides, grocery store clerks, and bus drivers, Shearer said. It’s a strategy that is backed by top infectious disease experts and that DeSantis has scoffed at. “I finally got in touch with someone and they informed me it was now first-come, first-serve starting on New Year’s Day.... It’s scary.” -- — Edward Kippel “As we get into the general community, the vaccines are going to be targeted where the risk is the greatest, and that is in our elderly population,” DeSantis said at last week’s presser. “We are not going to put young healthy workers ahead of our vulnerable elderly population.” Bernard Ashby, a Miami-based cardiologist who is the Florida state lead for the Committee to Protect Medicare, said DeSantis showing off five retiree Republican Villagers getting inoculated fits a consistent pattern by Florida’s top elected official of putting politics over people. “It is all about optics and not about the substance,” Ashby said. “He’s given seniors the impression that the cavalry is on its way to the rescue, and giving people a false sense of hope.” Indeed, since DeSantis proclaimed seniors were his next vaccination priority, hospitals and county health departments providing vaccinations for 65-and-over Floridians have been inundated with an onslaught of elderly people hoping to land their first dose. It’s a scenario that foreshadows a long delay given the limited run of vaccinations being distributed across the state and the country. In Lee County, hundreds of senior citizens camped out in front of immunization sites hours before the places opened to jab them on a first-come, first-served basis. In Lake County, which borders Sumter and includes a small portion of The Villages, the Health Department initially announced it would offer vaccinations to senior citizens later this week at two locations. The Dec. 29 press release instructs people to call and register for an appointment. But the following day, the Lake Health Department issued another directive informing local elderly folks that the vaccinations would be given on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning on Jan. 1 and that appointments will not be accepted. The divergent instructions left Edward Kippel, a 78-year-old who said he had coronary artery disease, frustrated. The retiree, who along with his wife live in Lake’s portion of The Villages, said he kept getting a busy signal and messages that the health department’s phone line was not in service for several hours on Tuesday. “I finally got in touch with someone and they informed me it was now first-come, first-serve starting on New Year’s Day,” Kippel told The Daily Beast. “I saw on TV people waiting in line in other parts of Florida. Some weren’t wearing masks. It’s scary.” A spokesperson for the Lake County Health Department did not respond to an email requesting comment. To be sure, the troubles with Florida’s vaccine rollout mirrors those of other states, argued Dr. William Haseltine, chairman of the US-China Health Summit and a world-renowned infectious disease expert. Haseltine said the Trump administration shoulders some of the blame. “States need financial and material support from the federal government,” he explained. “The federal government did not work with states on detailed plans on how they would distribute the vaccines.” Still, DeSantis has exacerbated the problem in Florida, Haseltine said. “The governor has handled this crisis as bad as anybody could,” he added. Lowenkron, the Villages doctor, did not respond to phone messages seeking comment. But he assured email recipients that his employer, in conjunction with the Sumter County Health Department and the two UF Health hospitals in the area, was working on a plan that would entail an online sign-up process and a drive-through vaccination with space for a 15-minute observation after the inoculation. However, the Sumter County Health Department is still prioritizing vaccinations for doctors, nurses, nursing home staffers ,and old people living in long-term care facilities, according to biological scientist and spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. Those groups have been prioritized almost universally nationwide in the earliest wave of vaccinations; it’s in the second tranche after them that states like Florida and Texas are diverging by putting all seniors before workers. A majority of The Villages is located in Sumter County, where a total of 221 vaccinations had been administered, according to the Florida Health Department’s Dec. 29 vaccination report. Statewide, 175,465 Floridians had gotten the vaccine, including 35,456 people 65 and over. On Wednesday, the Sumter County Health Department said it received 2,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine, according to a press release. The first people to get inoculated from the new batch will be medical personnel working a mass vaccination event at a future undetermined date, as well as health-care workers currently caring for COVID-19 patients on a daily basis. The goal is to have a sizable vaccination force ready to administer the immunization shots, the press release states. “Following the initial distributions to high-risk frontline health-care workers and long-term care facility staff and residents, the health department will work to provide vaccines to additional priority groups,” McCarthy said in an email statement. She added, "Updates on how residents will be able to receive the vaccine will be announced as soon as those plans become available." On Wednesday afternoon, a Sumter Health Department email obtained by The Daily Beast indicated people could begin calling a phone number on Jan. 4 to schedule a future appointment to obtain the vaccine. Meanwhile, in Lake County, Kippel’s frustration at the prospect of jumping over other elderly folks to get it was palpable. As he put it, “I want the vaccine, but I am not sure I want to expose myself to the virus while waiting in line to get it.”
"DeSantis for the win" -- Fake COVID tweeting spokesman gets the heave-ho Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief spokesman Fred Piccolo resigns https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article248196835.html Fred Piccolo is out as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ communications director and will move over to the state Department of Education to serve as executive vice chancellor of the Florida College System. Piccolo’s resignation comes amid backlash from 4 a.m. Christmas Eve tweet, in which he downplayed COVID-19 deaths. The tweet drew national headlines and led Piccolo to delete his Twitter account. His tweet was responding to a photo gallery of COVID-19 victims and healthcare workers. He tweeted: “I’m wondering since 99% [of] Covid patients survive shouldn’t you have 99 photos of survivors for every one fatality? Otherwise you’re just trying to create a narrative that is not reality.” The tweet has since been deleted. Piccolo said Thursday that his departure from the governor’s office was unrelated to the tweet and that his move to the state Department of Education had been in the works “for a while.” He said he submitted his resignation letter on Dec. 23, a day before the tweet. “Just looking for something new. Been in the comms [communications] world for 23 years,” Piccolo said in a text message Thursday morning to the Herald/Times. Piccolo, who has long been known for his combative social media style with reporters, was tapped as DeSantis’ chief spokesman in July. DeSantis has not yet announced who will replace him. Piccolo will start his new job at the Department of Education Jan. 6, where he will reunite with Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. Piccolo previously served as Corcoran’s chief spokesmanat the state House Speaker’s office. Corcoran said in a statement Thursday that he was “thrilled” Piccolo was joining the department: “He brings a wealth of knowledge, skill, and years of experience to the department and will provide strategic leadership in developing cross-divisional education strategies for post-secondary and career and adult education to ensure Florida post-secondary students can continue to receive a world-class education.”
FL Gov. DeSantis Shows Real Leadership, Won't Get Vaccine Until Elderly Get It First https://trendingpolitics.com/fl-gov...won-t-get-vaccine-until-elderly-get-it-first/ Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis showed real leadership on Wednesday when he told reporters that he does not plan to get the coronavirus vaccine until the elderly in the sunshine state get it first. During brief remarks to the press, DeSantis said he is willing to take one of the newly-developed vaccines for COVID-19, but said seniors should get first priority because they are the most vulnerable.