Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis railed against the Biden administration\u2019s attempt at creating a \u201cbiomedical security state\u201d through pandemic measures including lockdowns and vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During remarks made at his administration\u2019s \u201cPrescribe Freedom\u201d event in Panama City Beach, DeSantis announced a new legislative proposal that would permanently ban vaccine, masking, and vaccine passport requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking alongside Florida\u2019s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, DeSantis said the new measures \u201cwill permanently protect Floridians from losing their jobs due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, protect parents\u2019 rights, and institutes additional protections that prevent discrimination based on COVID-19 vaccine status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DeSantis touted his administration\u2019s COVID-19 response as many other states signed on to lockdowns, vaccine and mask requirements, standing up to major institutions like \u201cthe bureaucracy, the medical establishment, legacy media, and even the President of the United States, who together were working to impose a biomedical security state against society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey sought to marginalize people who declined COVID jabs by using things like vaccine passports,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cThey sought to prevent people from being able to earn a living if they declined the jab through the Biden employer mandate. They sought to deny children an education if their parents did not want their kids to get mRNA shots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey sought to discriminate against Americans based on vax status by treating them different in their own workplaces,\u201d the Republican charged. \u201cThey sought to impose masking requirements on everyone from spectators at sporting events to young school children. And they sought to silence medical practitioners who followed the evidence and backed the science over the narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>DeSantis also questioned the science behind booster vaccines that have become part of the Biden administration\u2019s pandemic messaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DeSantis\u2019 proposal would permanently prohibit mandates for COVID-19 vaccine passports throughout the entire state of Florida, vaccine and mask requirements in all of Florida\u2019s schools and businesses, and the hiring or firing of employees based on vaccine status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen the world lost its mind, Florida was a refuge of sanity, serving strongly as freedom\u2019s linchpin,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese measures will ensure Florida remains this way and will provide landmark protections for free speech for medical practitioners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to lead with this by making all of these protections permanent in Florida statute which we are going to do in the upcoming legislative session,\u201d DeSantis added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The move comes on the heels of DeSantis\u2019 December 2022\u00a0announcement that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers<\/a>\u00a0will be facing a statewide grand jury tasked with investigating \u201cany and all wrongdoing in Florida with respect to COVID-19 vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n