ORLANDO, Fla. — In January 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis was proud to announce the one-millionth COVID-19 vaccine given out in Florida.
“We did it live on TV,” DeSantis told a Newsmax town hall four months later. “And I had a 100-year-old WWII veteran, they showed [his] shot, we were all clapping. They were interviewing him, and he just unilaterally said, ‘I want to say one more thing … Florida has the best doggone governor in this country.’ And I was like, ‘Hey, I’ll take that.’”
Back then, DeSantis often praised the state’s coordination with the Trump administration, which was partly responsible for the quicker-than-expected development of the vaccines, thanks to its Operation Warp Speed.
