Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis railed against the Biden administration’s attempt at creating a “biomedical security state” through pandemic measures including lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
During remarks made at his administration’s “Prescribe Freedom” event in Panama City Beach, DeSantis announced a new legislative proposal that would permanently ban vaccine, masking, and vaccine passport requirements.
Speaking alongside Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, DeSantis said the new measures “will permanently protect Floridians from losing their jobs due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, protect parents’ rights, and institutes additional protections that prevent discrimination based on COVID-19 vaccine status.”
Watch DeSantis’ remarks on Spreely.video:
DeSantis touted his administration’s COVID-19 response as many other states signed on to lockdowns, vaccine and mask requirements, standing up to major institutions like “the 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.”
“They sought to marginalize people who declined COVID jabs by using things like vaccine passports,” DeSantis said. “They 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.”
“They sought to discriminate against Americans based on vax status by treating them different in their own workplaces,” the Republican charged. “They 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.”
DeSantis also questioned the science behind booster vaccines that have become part of the Biden administration’s pandemic messaging.
DeSantis’ proposal would permanently prohibit mandates for COVID-19 vaccine passports throughout the entire state of Florida, vaccine and mask requirements in all of Florida’s schools and businesses, and the hiring or firing of employees based on vaccine status.
“When the world lost its mind, Florida was a refuge of sanity, serving strongly as freedom’s linchpin,” DeSantis said.
“These measures will ensure Florida remains this way and will provide landmark protections for free speech for medical practitioners.”
Right Cheer / Matt Johnson / Flickr
“We 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,” DeSantis added.
The move comes on the heels of DeSantis’ December 2022 announcement that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers will be facing a statewide grand jury tasked with investigating “any and all wrongdoing in Florida with respect to COVID-19 vaccines.”
This news and commentary by Andrew White originally appeared on Valiant News.
