Becerra says DeSantis bears responsibility for Covid’s outsized toll

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra took aim at Florida governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis for sowing mistrust in Covid-19 vaccines and safety measures.

Becerra said that people still dying of Covid are mainly “either unvaccinated or undervaccinated” and that “if you’re dying of Covid today, you didn’t take precautions” in response to a question about DeSantis’ vaccine skepticism from White House reporter Adam Cancryn at POLITICO’s Health Care Summit.

“If you listen to someone telling you not to take that precaution, it's not just your fault. It's the fault of that leader who doesn't give you the best information. If leaders choose not to take care of their people, that's on them."

DeSantis and his surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, have questioned whether the vaccines meet the cost-benefit test for some populations, such as kids and young men, who can suffer rare side effects from the shots but are also at low risk from the disease.

By way of contrast, Becerra touted the work of the Biden administration and his Department of Health and Human Services in pushing out vaccines.

He credited those efforts with helping reduce the death toll from the more-than-4,000 who lost their lives on the day of President Joe Biden’s inauguration to just over 100 per day now. And he said the administration had succeeded in its efforts to convince people of color traditionally more resistant to vaccination to get their Covid shots.

But Becerra acknowledged that trust in not only Covid vaccines, but all vaccines, has declined during Biden’s term.

He blamed misinformation. “Social media is dangerous,” he said. “We’re combatting anecdotal information with facts and believe it or not sometimes the facts lose.”

At the same time, some people who are up to date on their vaccinations continue to die of Covid-19, especially those with compromised immunity or chronic conditions, despite Becerra’s assurances.

DeSantis, meanwhile, is campaigning on his Covid response, calling Florida, where he ended lockdown earlier than most and barred mask mandates, a “refuge of sanity.”

Spokespeople for DeSantis’ office and campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.