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Rep. Charlie Crist calls for DOJ investigation into DeSantis’ vaccine distribution

By FOX 13 News staff
Updated  February 22, 2021 6:10am EST
Coronavirus
FOX 13 News

Commission Chair Baugh scrutinized for vaccination clinic

Baugh helped, and had 3,000 names selected from two specific ZIP codes: 34211 and 34202, which are primarily Lakewood Ranch, the most affluent area in the county. 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Representative Charlie Crist, a former Florida governor, is calling for an investigation into the current governor, accusing him of favoring political allies and donors when it comes to deciding where the state should open vaccination distribution sites.

Crist revealed Sunday he wrote a letter to the DOJ claiming the governor is setting up COVID-19 vaccination drives at sites that "seem to be targeted to wealthy communities with whom Governor DeSantis has clear political connections, allowing some to skip to the front of the line in counties with existing waitlists."

Crist used the recent pop-up vaccination site in Manatee County as an example in which some county commissioners criticized the way those communities were selected. One said the state’s vaccine pop-up site was brought into the "whitest and richest" Lakewood Ranch. 

The former governor argued that Lakewood Ranch’s parent company is owned by a Republican who donated nearly a million dollars to Governor DeSantis.

READ: Manatee commissioner's name on hand-picked list of vaccine recipients, records show

The accusation comes after Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh issued an apology for providing a list of vaccination locations, primarily from Lakewood Ranch, instead of using the county’s lottery system.

DeSantis defends Manatee vaccine clinic

After some Manatee County commissioners criticized the decision-making behind the state’s vaccine pop-up site in 'whitest and richest' Lakewood Ranch, Gov. Ron DeSantis had one simple message: If you don’t want it, it will be given to another county.

When the site opened, Gov. DeSantis responded by saying he was targeting areas with a high concentration of seniors.

"There was no choice to pick certain ZIP codes," DeSantis argued last week. "We wanted to find communities that have high levels of seniors and this obviously has a high concentration. This is in addition to everything that’s provided to Manatee County. This is totally supplementary to that."