The Florida Dept. of Health will begin fining businesses $5,000 for breaking the state’s block on vaccine passports.
The state agency’s law, “Penalties for Covid Vaccine Proof Requirements,” says it will force the fine on “any governmental or business entity, or university.” The $5,000 fine will be “per person and separate violation” and has to be paid within 30 days.
“Promises made and promises kept,” Governor DeSantis’ spokeswoman Taryn Fenske said to Fox 13 Tampa Bay this week.
The fine will not apply to the vaccine mandates that businesses impose upon their employees. Florida is what is known an at-will employment state, which means employees have restricted rights and might be fired for any variety of reasons unless they are a part of a union, legal experts informed Fox 13.
“Governor Ron DeSantis is getting revenge against Floridians who are attempting to guard themselves and their towns and communities from coronavirus,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Dem campaigning to campaign against DeSantis back in 2022, told Fox 13 in a comment.
“This goes against common sense and it’s an insult to our free market principles that the Governor claims to champion,” Fried said.
DeSantis was consistently against vaccine mandates in the state. “It is not acceptable for either the private sector or the government to force you to show proof of vaccination to just simply participate in a normal society,” he stated at a press conference back in March, NPR said.
Florida is currently not enforcing its block on vaccine mandates on cruise lines after a federal judge gave a temporary injunction to allow Norwegian Cruise Line to force proof of vaccination from its passengers.
Florida reported a record number of coronavirus hospitalizations over the past few weeks as the delta variant went through the state. DeSantis encouraged Florida citizens to get the vaccination, saying that vaccines were effective against covid-19.
“Again, we should continue to increase vaccinations across these age groups. As said by Governor DeSantis, ‘These vaccines are saving people’s lives, and lowering the mortality of coronavirus,’” Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for Governor Ron DeSantis, said in August.
Author: Scott Dowdy
