Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that the state will punish county and city governments for requiring their employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19, threatening a $5,000 fine for each violation.
DeSantis, calling it a way to “protect Florida jobs,” said at a news conference that “you don’t just cast aside people who’ve been serving faithfully over this issue — over what’s basically a personal choice on their individual health.” The fines — which could cost some Florida counties potentially considerable sums — underscore the broad Republican resistance to President Joe Biden’s latest effort to rein in the pandemic by imposing stringent new vaccine rules on federal workers, large employers and health care staff. Biden directed the Labor Department last week to require that all businesses with 100 or more employees ensure their workers are either vaccinated or tested once a week for the virus.
