Charlie Crist will require campaign staff to be vaccinated

One candidate for Governor says he will be requiring his team to get the jab.

Democrat Charlie Crist, a St. Petersburg Congressman, announced on Twitter that to work for him, individuals need to have one of the three available vaccines for COVID-19.

“To keep our team, volunteers, and supporters healthy, our campaign will be requiring that all staff be vaccinated against COVID,” he posted. “The vaccine is (the) only way we can truly protect our health, schools and economy, and our team will be proudly doing our part.”

That comes as incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis ardently resists calls to stop the spread of the coronavirus by making mask orders an options and better promoting vaccinations.

The Republican Governor this year signed into law a ban on so-called vaccine passports, forbidding businesses from denying service to those who don’t provide proof of vaccination.

Florida law still allows employers to require their own employees to receive the vaccine or risk termination, and many, including Disney, have done so.

It’s unclear, however, whether that requirement might impact volunteers working with a political campaign. That assumes, of course, that the vaccine hesitant would donate their time to efforts to get Crist elected Governor again; he served as Florida’s Governor from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican but has since switched parties.

Crist is the first major statewide candidate in Florida to require COVID-19 vaccinations for his workers.

He has not said if he will also require vaccinations for members of his congressional staff.

As the pandemic continues to drive news in Florida, Crist has made differentiating his own positions on public health from DeSantis’ a key part of his message. He also has supported a statewide mandate on masks in schools, while DeSantis forbid districts from putting in even local mandates.

Of note, Crist faces Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried in the Democratic Primary, the winner of whom will face DeSantis in the fall. Fried has also contrasted her record on the pandemic with that of DeSantis.