SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Sarasota County resident and world-renowned author Stephen King suggested on social media Monday that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is prioritizing rich, Republican-leaning communities for his vaccination sites.
King’s post about DeSantis comes a day after Rep. Charlie Crist accused DeSantis of the same thing, calling on the US Department of Justice to conduct a full federal investigation.
DeSantis has been widely criticized for giving special vaccine access to residents in Florida’s wealthiest zip codes. State data has shown residents in affluent areas getting vaccinated at a faster rate than those in low-income neighborhoods.
King said Monday morning that “It seems possible—likely, even—that Ron DeSantis provided rich, Republican-leaning communities like Lakewood Ranch with priority vaccinations for political gain.”
When pressed on his decision to host an exclusive vaccine site for Lakewood Ranch residents, DeSantis said they weren’t playing favorites, but rather picking an area with a high concentration of seniors.
“There was no choice to pick certain zip codes,” DeSantis said Wednesday. “We wanted to find communites that had high levels of seniors living there and this obviously has a high concentration.”
