Encouraged by their unions and their governor, Florida's police are refusing to receive vaccines against Covid: one survey tallied only 52% respondents saying they were vaccinated, and some departments are failing to track or count it at all. Last week, at least five officers died in Florida of the disease.
The state of Florida has been struck particularly hard by the latest surge, with more than 17,000 people hospitalized with Covid-19, according to data Saturday from the US Department of Health & Human Services. And in the week beginning August 14, at least five police departments in South Florida reported the deaths of law enforcement officers from Covid-19. … At least 103 law enforcement officers have lost their lives to Covid-19 in 2021, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which counts Covid-19 as the leading cause of officer deaths this year.
Matters aren't likely to improve soon.
The Miami-Dade Police Department declined an interview request on the topic.
"We have been working hard for months to make vaccines accessible as possible across Miami-Dade and urging everyone who is eligible to get the shot, including our employees," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said last week as she rolled out a new policy to combat COVID-19.
The county will not mandate the vaccine as of now. However, next week employees not in a union will have to test every week unless they are vaccinated. Then they can opt out.
