Florida supermarket chain Publix, founded by a family of right wingers who helped fund the Ellipse rally where Trump incited the MAGA terrorist horde to attack the US Capitol, will not be offering the COVID-19 vaccine to children under age five, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The best part is they simply won’t say why – literally a Publix spokeswoman told the Times the company will not be releasing a statement on the matter – leaving us to not-so-baselessly speculate they’re working in concert with tyrannical Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s efforts to block the distribution.
Florida was the only one out of 50 states to fail to order COVID-19 vax doses for children under 5 to be distributed to state-run healthcare providers, but since Publix’s vaccine supply comes directly from the federal government, their 832 stores in the state would’ve been a viable enough alternative for parents eager to get their kids the shot. A person who answered the phone at a Publix pharmacy in Brickell, Miami told a National Zero reporter inquiring about an appointment for a toddler the employees do not vaccinate any kids who are under 12 at all and said to call a pediatrician instead. The person did not elaborate when asked about the policy. This was the only one of four calls to Miami Publix pharmacies that was actually answered by a live person.