'So act immune': Gov. DeSantis bucks the narrative on practicing COVID restrictions after vaccination

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday countered messaging from government leaders on the pandemic, telling Floridians they should "act immune" if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

"My view is, if you get a vaccine, the vaccines are effective, you're immune. And so act immune," DeSantis said.

"If you tell people the opposite then, gee, if it's not effective for them and it's not gonna change anything, then what's the point of going through it?" he added.

What are the details?

During a press conference on Friday, DeSantis blasted the messaging related to COVID-19 vaccines, questioning why leaders urge fully vaccinated Americans to still wear face masks and practice social distancing.

"I think the messaging on this has been horrific. The messaging should be: 'Get a vaccine because it's good for you to do it. It works. You're not going to have to be doing anything abnormal. You can live your life.' That has got to be what the message is," DeSantis said.

"Unfortunately, I think the message has been very muddled when you tell people, 'Oh, yeah, yeah, this is important. Go get the vaccine. But you still have to social distance, you can't do this, you can't do that, you can't eat in a restaurant,'" DeSantis mocked. "Some of the people are still saying that kind of stuff. I think it's a huge, huge blunder."

According to WESH-TV, DeSantis also blasted directives from government officials that vaccinated individuals should continue to wear two masks.

"I also think it's a problem that people, where, you're telling people to get a vaccine and yet people who have been vaccinated for months are wearing two masks," he said. "If the vaccine is effective, why would you be wearing two masks? Like some of these folks are doing. It doesn't make sense."

What is the background?

As of Saturday afternoon, more than 82 million Americans have become fully vaccinated against COVID-19, amounting to approximately 25% of the population, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, leaders like Dr. Anthony Fauci say Americans who are fully vaccinated should continue to practice pandemic-related precautionary measures like social distancing and wearing face masks.

Still, despite Fauci warning that lifting restrictions and face mask mandates is premature, data reveal the COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective.

In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that only an extremely small percentage of fully vaccinated Americans — 0.008% — tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving their vaccine shots.