Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings threw his support behind the head of the county’s Department of Health after the latter was placed on leave by the state for criticizing his staff’s vaccination rate.
“Dr. Raul Pino has been our trusted partner and friend throughout the pandemic,” the mayor shared. “His sound medical advice has helped guide me and countless other Orange County leaders to make the best decisions possible in dealing with COVID-19.”
Pino was placed on leave after it was revealed that he sent a letter criticizing the low vaccination rate within his office. The state stepped in under recently passed laws and guidelines that prevent employers from requiring their staff be vaccinated.
“I am sorry but in the absence of reasonable and real reasons it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated,” Pino wrote in that email. “We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300,000 and we are not even at 50% pathetic.”
The state argued that vaccination is a “personal medical choice” and began an investigation “to determine if any laws were broken in this case.”
Currently quarantined with COVID-19, Mayor Demings hoped that they would hurry up and let Pino get back to work.
“It is my fervent hope that Dr. Pino returns to work on behalf of the residents of Orange County soon,” Demings said.
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This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2022.