The Special Olympics nixed its vaccine requirement after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) administration threatened to bury it with $27.5 million in fines.

The decision followed a letter sent to the Special Olympics from the Florida Department of Health, stating its intention to take action. As a result, the Special Olympics reversed its vaccine requirement:

“Special Olympics, Inc. (SOI) announced on June 2, 2022, that it is lifting the vaccine requirement for delegation members attending the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games being held in Orlando, Florida, June 5-12, as required by state of Florida officials on May 27, based upon the Florida Department of Health’s interpretation of Florida law,” the organization said a statement. 

“Delegates who were registered for the Games but were unable to participate due to the prior vaccine requirement, now have the option to attend,” it continued, adding that it looks “forward to welcoming thousands of Special Olympics athletes, families, and fans to an extraordinary 2022 USA Games.”

DeSantis celebrated that decision in a press conference on Friday, walking through the series of events that prompted Florida to take action:

“This June with the Special Olympics, they imposed on the athletes a COVID vaccine mandate. … If you did not submit and you did not get the COVID vax, you would be denied the ability to compete in the Special Olympics,” he said, noting that it caused a lot of athletes out of state to refrain from competing. It caused others to get the shot “even against their judgment,” leading to disastrous consequences:

So for example, there was a family from Kansas. They went to six different doctors to plead for a medical exemption for their son that had Down syndrome, wanted the exemption from the vax, wanted to be able to compete. They were told to just get the first dose and if he experiences any side effects, then the medical exemption will then be offered. Well, the son with Down syndrome did do that under pressure, had a seizure, was rushed to the hospital after his first dose. And so then he was granted the exemption after having to go through that, which was so unnecessary, and it was just something that was totally ridiculous. And so you’re seeing that over and over where these people are gonna have to make these decisions and it’s not necessarily some of it’s just personal choice, which is fine by me, but some of it you actually have advised against doing this. And a lot of these special olympians have also had COVID by now because I mean, most people have had it by now. And so to impose that mandate now in June of 2022, you know, it didn’t make sense.

“Nevertheless, that was the posture we were in,” he said, explaining that it prompted his administration to take action, and the Special Olympics reversed its decision.

“This will, this will be a relief to a lot of the athletes, although I think we do have to acknowledge because it’s coming so late, you know, some athletes are not going to necessarily be able to make the arrangements to be able to come and participate,” he said, adding that they “do not think it’s fair or just to be marginalizing some of these athletes based on a decision that has no bearing on their ability to compete with honor and integrity.”

“This was important that we engaged in this. I wish it did not have to come to this. I wish this had been resolved earlier, but I do think that this is something that’s very, very important,” he said, emphasizing that no one “should be targeted on this basis for sure.”

“But to do it to these special olympians to me was just totally wrong, so we’re going forward,” the governor added. “We think it’s gonna be a fun event.”

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