Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner and Publix both say a recent report by 60 Minutes on vaccines in Florida is false.
The 60 Minutes report is titled, "How the wealthy cut the line during Florida's frenzied vaccine rollout". It featured an interview with West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James who expressed his frustration in fighting to get the vaccine to his city. James told 60 Minutes he heard about a nursing home, board members, and "their wealthy pals" lining up for vaccinations in light of an order from Gov. Ron DeSantis for those vaccines to go to elderly residents and staff as part of his "Seniors First" platform.
A major sticking point is over reports of campaign donations. 60 Minutes cites campaign finance reports that show Publix donated $100,000 to Friends of Ron DeSantis, a political action committee in December 2020.
In January, DeSantis would go on to announce that Publix would be the sole distributor of the vaccine in Palm Beach County.
Publix blasted the report, saying in part, "The irresponsible suggestion that there was a connection between campaign contributions made to Governor DeSantis and our willingness to join other pharmacies in support of the state's vaccine distribution efforts is absolutely false".
Mayor Kerner also responded saying in part, "The reporting was not just based on bad information - it was intentionally false".
"I know this because I offered to provide my insight into Palm Beach County's vaccination efforts and 60 Minutes declined. They know that the Governor came to Palm Beach County and met with me and the County Administrator and we asked to expand the state's partnership with Publix to Palm Beach County".
