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Gov. Ron DeSantis announces COVID-19 vaccines for Bay of Pigs veterans

3 men captured by Fidel Castro forces receive jab at Florida museum

Multiple sites across South Florida distribute COVID-19 vaccine

MIAMI – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday announced an expansion of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination program for homebound seniors to veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

DeSantis announced the initiative at the Bay of Pigs Museum and Library in Miami, where three men who were captured by Fidel Castro’s forces in 1961 and spent time as prisoners of war were vaccinated.

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“We are inspired by folks who were able to stand up and fight for freedom,” DeSantis said. “Cuba’s loss was our gain.”

Other veterans will receive their shots in the comfort of their own homes, the governor said.

DeSantis again trumpeted the state’s push to vaccinate its seniors first.

“We’re not going to rest until every senior who wants a shot gets a shot,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said about 40% of seniors in Palm Beach County have been vaccinated.

“Some other places have 18, 19, 20%, so that’s kind of how we’ve done it,” he said. “And I think that that’s what we want to see.”

The governor added that he was “perplexed” that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s approval is likely not to come until the end of February. That single-dose shot could bolster the supply of vaccines, adding to the inventory being sent by Moderna and Pfizer, which are two-dose vaccines.

Last week, DeSantis visited Aventura, Florida, as the state began vaccinating homebound Holocaust survivors.

DeSantis opened the news conference by congratulating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on winning the Super Bowl.


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