Orlando’s top health official was suspended this month after he slammed his staff’s “pathetic” vaccination rate and urged them to get the jab.
The New York Times reports the suspension stems from a Jan. 4 email in which Dr. Raul Pino—director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County—expressed concern over the number of staffers who had yet to be fully vaccinated. According to the NYT, Pino’s letter stated that out of the department’s 568 active employees, only 219 had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, 34 had received a single dose, and only 77 had gotten a booster.
“I have a hard time understanding how we can be in public health and not practice it…” the email read in part. “I am sorry but in the absence of reasonable and real reasons it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated. We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300,000 and we are not even at 50% pathetic.”
The Florida Department of Health confirmed Pino has been placed on administrative leave as officials look into the matter. It’s unclear whether the doctor broke any laws with the email. The doctor has led the department since 2019, and has become a prominent and familiar figure in the county’s pandemic response.
“As the decision to get vaccinated is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers, the employee in question has been placed on administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Health is conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case,” the agency said in a statement, per WFTV. “The Department is committed to upholding all laws, including the ban on vaccine mandates for government employees and will take appropriate action once additional information is known.”
