Special Olympics almost faces huge Florida fine

The Special Olympics lifted its vaccine mandate when the Florida Department of Health threatened to sue for $27.5 million.

Don’t violate the no-mandate mandate, man

A letter from the Florida Department of Health recently poured some piping hot COVID policy tea into the laps of the US public. Last week, just three days before the Special Olympics in Orlando were set to begin, the state threatened to fine the event tens of millions of dollars.  

Why? Because there was a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all athletes involved in the USA games. Florida has a statewide ban on vaccine passports, and the Florida Department of Health argued that the policy violated state law. The letter called the policy “unfair” and “exclusive”. Which is not exactly the image the Special Olympics is going for.  

Fine, you win

Given that this letter was sent so close to the start of the USA games, the clock was ticking. The Special Olympics didn’t have the luxury of time to gather a legal team, a strategy, or a massive amount of money. Instead, they had to raise their white flag in defeat.

Not long after the Department of Health’s letter was made public, a statement from the Special Olympics confirmed that the vaccination requirements would be dropped. To be fair, we would do a 180 too if we were staring down the barrel of a $27.5 million fine.

This U-turn delighted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been against nearly every COVID-19 restriction since day one of the pandemic. DeSantis said, “Finally, we can report that all the athletes will be allowed to compete regardless of vaccination status. This will be a relief to a lot of athletes.”