Special Olympics Drops Vaccine Mandate After Fine Threat
June 6, 2022 in News by RBN Staff
source: webmd
On Friday, the Special Olympics announced that the vaccine mandate was dropped for the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games “based upon the Florida Department of Health’s interpretation of Florida law. Delegates who were registered for the Games but were unable to participate due to the prior vaccine requirement, now have the option to attend.”
“We don’t want to fight. We want to play,” the Special Olympics said in a statement posted on Twitter.
DeSantis has opposed almost every “vaccine passport” proposal since the pandemic began. In May 2021, he signed a bill “blocking any business or government entity from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination.”
At the same news conference, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said the state had been communicating with the Special Olympics for six months about the vaccine mandate, WFLA reported.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID vaccines for everyone 5 and older, including people with disabilities “who may be at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.”