As Florida continues to make the COVID-19 vaccine available for Floridians across the state, Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) is leading an effort to provide transparency to the process. Reintroducing the Set Testing and Objectives Plan (STOP) COVID-19 Act, the goal is “to set vaccine distribution reporting and transparency standards for states and create a program for cities and counties to increase testing, contact tracing and transparency efforts in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
In a statement, Senator Scott shared that “we’ve made incredible progress on developing the vaccine and getting doses to states, but there is still a lot more work to do when it comes to ending the virus.”
Commenting that “all levels of government must work together to quickly distribute the vaccine so every American who wants one can easily get one,” the former Governor of Florida admitted that “we also need to implement transparent, efficient and measurable ways to contain the spread.”
In turn, The STOP Act would ensure that transparency “to ensure communities are doing everything possible to keep residents safe.”
As COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket in the Sunshine State, “we must keep working to end the coronavirus and give Americans as much information as possible, so we can get back to our new normal.”
The bill would require states to “create a vaccine registration website,” “report weekly targets and if they miss the targets to explain why,” “report detailed vaccine distribution metrics and demographic data down to the neighborhood level,” and “administer 95% of vaccine doses for the month or have a 25% penalty on all federal funds used.”
If passed, the bill also “establishes metrics, including positivity rate, contract tracing and test results, to measure the effectiveness of the program,” it “creates a voluntary, data-driven COVID testing and contact tracing program for cities and counties to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” and it “authorizes a 100% federal share for the first two months, using unspent money in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund.”
