Ron DeSantis: Florida Saved People’s Jobs from Vaccine Mandates

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 09: Newly sworn-in Gov. Ron DeSantis greets people as he attends
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Florida has saved countless people from losing their jobs over vaccine mandates, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said on Tuesday, mentioning that people would “be getting pink slips” if his administration had not taken action.

Speaking in Oldsmar, Florida, DeSantis emphasized the success the Sunshine State has had in saving people’s jobs in the face of coercive vaccine mandates.

“People’s jobs are being saved because of what we did to protect against mandates. And that has been the case with nurses, with police officers, with people who work for large companies,” he said.

“And not only have we been able to save thousands of jobs. We actually now have some people who are being hired back due to what we did,” he continued.

“And so, I said we needed to make sure that people were able to keep their jobs and earn a living and shouldn’t be denied that right based on a COVID jab, and we’ve done that,” he added, noting that Florida is one of a few states that have “tackled” the issue.

“We can say, had we not done what we’ve done, there’d be people right now who would be getting pink slips, and that’s not happening in the state of Florida,” he added.

In November, DeSantis signed legislation in Brandon, Florida, designed to protect workers from losing their jobs due to coronavirus vaccine mandates. Under the rules,  private sector employers cannot implement the mandate without providing these five exemptions, which establishment media outlets have criticized for providing too many loopholes:

1. Medical reasons, as determined by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant. Medical reasons include pregnancy or expectation of pregnancy.
2. Religious reasons, based on a sincerely held belief
3. Immunity based on prior COVID–19 infection, as documented by a lab test
4. Periodic testing, agreeing to comply with regular testing at no cost to the employee
5. Personal protective equipment (PPE), agreeing to comply with use of employer-provided PPE

This week, DeSantis highlighted a Florida doctor who was recently reinstated “due to our efforts to stop this heavy-handed federal mandate”:

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