COVID-19 vaccine partnership with Gov. Ron DeSantis, Publix under scrutiny

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis chose to partner with Publix in January in efforts to vaccinate more seniors statewide. However, the partnership is now coming under scrutiny.

Channel 3's Olivia Iverson found that the grocery chain has a history of donations to his campaign even days before the partnership announcement.

Over 240 Publix locations, from Naples to Northwest Florida, are now offering the COVID-19 vaccine to seniors by appointment only.

Public documents point to a past of payments from the grocery store to support Gov. DeSantis’s political campaign.

"Publix was ready to go from the very beginning, and I think this is going to be really important as we continue our mission to put Seniors first,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

Governor DeSantis touted his efforts to vaccinate seniors announcing his expansion of the partnership with Publix.

Public campaign finance documents indicate his relationship with the supermarket started far before his push for vaccines.

The document of contributors to his political action committee called 'Friends of Ron DeSantis.'

It lists Publix supermarkets incorporated with four separate donations of $25,000 in December 2020. Two of those donations listed on Dec. 31st just five days before the governor announced their partnership.

Other states, like Alabama, partnered with Walmart to distribute COVID-19 vaccines.

The 'Big Box Store'told Channel 3 that they are talking with other states as well but couldn’t comment if that includes Florida.

Channel 3 emailed Governor DeSantis and Publix asking “if the donations were a conflict of interest and what factors he considered while selecting Publix for the partnership."

Neither responded to our request.