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Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, already facing criticism for downplaying the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations, has put on leave Orange County Health Director Dr. Raul Pino for encouraging his staff to get vaccinated.

Pino had written in a Jan. 4 email to his staff: “I have a hard time understanding how we can be in public health and not practice it,” WMFE, a public radio station in Orlando, reported.

In an email Wednesday to the USA TODAY Network-Florida, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw referred to a health department statement on the decision to put Pino on leave:

“As the decision to get vaccinated is a personal medical choice that should be made free from coercion and mandates from employers, the employee in question has been placed on administrative leave, and the Florida Department of Health is conducting an inquiry to determine if any laws were broken in this case. The Department is committed to upholding all laws, including the ban on vaccine mandates for government employees and will take appropriate action once additional information is known.”

Pino’s email to his staff detailed that only 219 of his 568 staff members had received two doses. “I am sorry but in the absence of reasonable and real reasons it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated. 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,” he wrote.

DeSantis and his state surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, have questioned the efficacy of masks and vaccines. The state’s Department of Health also has advised against testing for people who have no symptoms, stating, “COVID-19 testing is unlikely to have any clinical benefits.”

DeSantis, whose wife has been diagnosed with potentially immunity-compromising breast cancer, has also refused to say if he has received a vaccine booster. Last week, in an apparent swipe at DeSantis, former President Donald Trump called out “gutless” politicians who refuse to say if they’ve gotten a booster.

In its year-end message to the public, Florida’s Department of Health touted its success in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic but left unmentioned vaccinations, booster shots and masks – measures disease experts say offer the best chance of containing a pandemic now in its fourth deadly wave in the state.

Instead it focused on how the state had created a network of sites providing monoclonal antibody treatments to fight the novel coronavirus.

Listening to the story of Lenny who cuts hair for elderly men in a care home. Many are suffering Alzheimers. Great story.

I remember when my grandmother had Alzheimers. My first child was only a few months old then, it was 1994. My mom wanted to take the baby to see grandmom, but in the end it was just mom and me. Vera didn't know I was her grandson, but something must have reminded her I was a soldier medic. Grandmom was a nurse in WWII. So we had a pretty cool conversation because I knew enough history, especially Army history, to at least keep the conversation going for her on that last visit.