Most COVID deaths in Florida happened after vaccines were readily available: NYT

• Gov. Ron DeSantis was an early proponent of the COVID vaccine, urging the elderly to get the shot.
• But as Republican sentiments toward the vaccines shifted, DeSantis began downplaying his support.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is building his fledgling 2024 presidential campaign on the supposed merits of his COVID-19 response in Florida, often touting the state's prioritization of protecting personal freedoms over mask mandates and vaccine requirements.

But a New York Times report published Saturday suggests the Florida governor's shifting public attitude toward vaccines throughout the pandemic may correlate with an unnecessary spike in deaths throughout the state during the brutal Delta wave in the summer of 2021.

The Times found that the majority of Florida's COVID deaths took place after vaccines were readily available to all adults — not before, as was the case in many Democratic-led states, as well as nationwide.

A spokesperson for DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Florida was initially one of the early success stories of the pandemic. The state's death rate throughout the first year of the pandemic was lower than all but 10 other states, The Times reported, and Florida was ahead of the curve in vaccinating people 65 and older in early 2021.

While DeSantis made efforts to get elder Floridians vaccinated early on, his approach seemed to shift as the Republican party stoked increased skepticism about the science behind the shots. By the spring of 2021, as the vaccines became more readily available to adults of all ages, DeSantis was instead emphasizing his opposition toward mandates and offering some appraisals of the shot, according to The Times.

The governor also bolstered medical officials who have downplayed the severity of the virus, including appointing Florida State Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, in September 2021, who publicly questioned the vaccine's effectiveness and would not say whether he himself got the shot.

By July 2021, Florida's vaccine numbers had fallen from their early lead, and rates of vaccination among younger adults in the state were below the national average, the outlet reported. The consequences of that downward trend would be on full display when the Delta variant ravaged the country in the summer of 2021.

The Times analysis found that Floridians died at a higher rate, adjusted for age, than people in almost any other state during the Delta wave. Florida made up 14% of deaths between July and October 2021, despite representing less than 7% of the country, according to The Times.

Twenty-three-thousand Floridians died during the Delta wave, and 9,000 of them were younger than 65 — a majority of whom were either unvaccinated or had not finished their two-dose regimen, the newspaper reported.

DeSantis suddenly began recommending vaccinations again as July 2021 came to a close and cases skyrocketed, The Times reported.

The governor has previously taken issue with the suggestion that his comments about vaccines played a role in Florida's case count, suggesting that his opposition was toward mandates and not the shots themselves. But local officials in Florida told The Times that DeSantis' public shift on vaccines was notable.

Dr. Alina Alonso, the recently-retired health director for Palm Beach County, told The Times DeSantis' messaging went from, "Let's get everybody vaccinated 65 and older" to "Vaccines are not really useful."

Florida's death rate eventually fell in the autumn, as many other states' rates did when the wave subsided. In total, Florida's death numbers throughout the pandemic, when adjusted for age, actually trended better than the national average, according to The Times.

But DeSantis' vaccine pivots are worth reckoning with, Dan Gelber, the Democratic mayor of Miami Beach, told The Times.

"There are people in the state who will do what he says," Gelber said. "He's a popular governor."