Florida’s DeSantis Says Fully Vaccinated People Should ‘Act Immune’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to the media about the cruise industry during a press conference at PortMiami in Miami, Fla., on April 8, 2021. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that people who have been fully vaccinated against the CCP virus should “act immune” and shouldn’t worry about wearing masks anymore.

DeSantis, a Republican, said if there’s no change in mask requirements or social distancing, then people will view it as useless to get the vaccine.

“My view is if you get a vaccine, the vaccines are effective, you’re immune, and so, act immune,” DeSantis told a crowd in Lakeland, Florida, over the weekend.

“I think the messaging should be, ‘Get a vaccine because it’s good for you to do it. It works. You’re not going to have to have to be doing anything abnormal. You can live your life.’ That’s got to be what the message is.

“I advocate for [getting vaccinated] but I also can’t square if the vaccine’s effective, why would you need to be wearing two masks like some of these folks are doing. It doesn’t make sense.”

Several public officials, including White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, have been seen in recent weeks wearing two masks.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have recommended that people wear a mask even after being fully vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.

The CDC recommends that Americans who have been fully vaccinated to “keep taking precautions—like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces—in public places until we know more.”

People who are fully vaccinated shouldn’t attend large gatherings or visit indoors without a mask with people who are at risk of developing severe symptoms from the CCP virus.

DeSantis, meanwhile, criticized the decision by the CDC and Food and Drug Administration to recommend a pause on using the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine, following isolated reports of blood clots.

“How they handled the J&J, I think was a huge mistake,” he said. “I don’t know the information they have, but if you’re going to do that, you could’ve done that in a way that was not going to cause a lot of people to lose confidence.”

DeSantis said the halt is causing Americans to distrust the vaccines.