The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Florida Governor Blocks Kids’ Covid Vaccination

Jun 20, 2022

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized both Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for children under 5 and the Centers for Disease Control is expected to soon follow. The federal government allowed the states to pre-order doses of both vaccines to make available to pediatricians and pharmacies within their states.

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and the head of Florida Department of Health, Joseph Ladapo, have chosen not to pre-order any doses from the federal government. Both have previously opposed vaccine requirements for adults and vaccines being given to older children.

While their decisions do not completely rule out doctors obtaining vaccines for their patients, it will make it much more difficult and slow down the process of delivering the vaccines to the youngest children in the state.

In defending his decision, DeSantis said, "I would say we are affirmatively against the Covid vaccine for young kids. These are the people who have zero risk of getting anything."

This claim of his, however, is false.

While it is true that children represent only a small proportion of those in the U.S. who have died from Covid, there have been over 1,000 children who have died. There have also been 13.5 million children infected in the U.S., including at least close to 600,000 in Florida. While their risk of death may be low, children who get infected are at risk of long Covid, which they can carry with them longer than any other victims. Kids can also spread the disease to adults around them.

Individual politicians can have whatever beliefs they might hold, but if individuals like these can interfere with the delivery of a proven method of preventing the ongoing spread of a deadly disease that shows how capitalism stands in the way of public health.