On this Wednesday, March 10, episode of Sundial:
Vaccinations At Ocean Reef
From Florida City to West Palm Beach, millions of Florida residents are struggling to get their first vaccinations. But back in January, residents at the Ocean Reef community in Key Largo were given exclusive access to vaccines, weeks before they became available to very limited numbers of the general public.
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There are now calls for an independent investigation into the governor’s vaccine distribution plan as a number of the residents of Ocean Reef are key Republican donors. We spoke with Miami Herald reporters David Goodhue and Mary Ellen Klas, who have closely followed the story.
We reached out to Monroe County Commissioner Mike Forster to join us on today's program. Instead he provided the following written statement:
As a newly elected Commissioner of Monroe County District 5, there hasn’t been a day since vaccines have been available, that I haven’t been concerned on getting shots in arms. From where I sit on the food chain as a policy maker, the allocations & distribution are not something that I get to weigh in on. So the where, when and how many vaccines that are shot in the arms of my constituents, are first decided at the State Level to wherever they determine is highest and best use, and are also allocated to our Health Dept (State Run) and our Emergency Management. With all of that being said, I and I’m sure others heard murmurs as to my constituents in Ocean Reef getting vaccines, but I can tell you unequivocally that I never saw anything that was facilitated by anyone in the County. So for me to speculate as to what transpired, would be just that. I have and will keep advocating for vaccines for everyone, openly, fairly and with full transparency.
We also reached out to Florida State Representative Jim Mooney (whose district includes Key Largo) as well as Baptist Health, the organization responsible for providing the vaccines to Ocean Reef Medical Center. We are awaiting a response from both and will update this post if they get back to us.
Puerto Rican Statehood
There are competing proposals in Congress from Florida Representative Darren Soto and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the issue of Puerto Rican statehood.
Last November, Puerto Ricans voted on a referendum that asked whether the island should become a state and the majority said yes.
Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi has been one of the key advocates for statehood in Washington D.C. but there have been numerous bills to establish statehood for the territory over the years, that have made little progress in Congress.
On Wednesday's show we asked the question "Should Puerto Rico become a state or remain a territory or become an independent island?"
Our guests for the panel conversation included:
- Patricia Mazzei, the Miami bureau chief for the New York Times who covers Puerto Rico.
- Victor Vazquez-Hernandez, professor of history at Miami-Dade College and author of three books on the Puerto Rican diaspora
- Frances Colon, vice president of the Puerto Rican Leadership Council of South Florida and a former diplomat.
