The Brief

- Governor Ron DeSantis made an appearance in Tampa on Wednesday afternoon.

He held a news conference at Harpoon Harry’s about another piece of legislation that concerns vaccine mandates.

He discussed at length how Florida responded to COVID-19 back in 2020 and 2021, mentioning the state’s actions to reopen businesses and restaurants.

However, some of the legislation that was passed to block vaccine mandates from impacting Floridians is set to expire in June. It’s why the governor said he wants to make those protections permanent.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the COVID-19 vaccine helps reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death in patients who are six months and older.

Governor DeSantis was joined by Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo and Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis as well as Ryan Wilson and his mother, who shared their story about health impacts Ryan had after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered during Gov. DeSantis' news conference in Tampa.