Florida fines county more than $3.5 million for requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID

A Florida county has been fined more than $3.5 million for requiring county employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The state Department of Health issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that Leon County violated the state's vaccine passport ban 714 times.

The state sent a notice of violation to Leon County administrator Vincent Long on October 6, saying that the county's vaccine requirement for employees is in violation of a state law that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced in September. Under the law, government agencies that force a vaccine as a condition of employment can be fined $5,000 for every instance of doing so. 

DeSantis had said that the law was issued in an effort to "stand up for freedom."