Gov. DeSantis says older adults should get COVID-19 vaccine before some frontline workers

THE VILLAGES, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is hosted a news conference in The Villages on Tuesday.

During his visit, DeSantis said he wants older adults to get that vaccine before essential workers.

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He said he wants to curb deaths and says if you look at the number of people older than 65, they are accounting for the majority of deaths in our state.

He said he wants the elderly to get inoculated before younger people even if they’re essential workers.

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“82% of the COVID-related mortality is people that are elderly,” DeSantis said. “If you can get a huge percentage of those people vaccinated, you’re going to reduce that mortality reduce the number of people coming into the hospitals and that will really I think be the most effective healthcare strategy.”

He said some of the parameters are still being worked out. The CDC recommends vaccinating people 75 and older, but the governor hasn’t decided on an age cutoff yet.

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Watch the news conference in full below:

Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates.