Disney stops vaccine mandate for Florida workers after new legislation from Governor DeSantis

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Disney had reportedly brought its vaccine mandate to a halt for Florida workers after new legislation was signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

What are the details?

"We believe that our approach to mandatory vaccines has been the right one as we've continued to focus on the safety and well-being of our Cast Members and Guests, and at this point, more than 90% of active Florida-based Cast Members have already verified that they are fully vaccinated. We will address legal developments as appropriate,” a Disney spokesperson shared with Fox Business.

As WOFL-TV revealed, the freeze on vaccine rules for COVID-19 was announced in a memo sent out on Friday.

"We remain confident in the approach we have taken with our mandatory vaccine policy for Florida-based Cast Members and employees, with more than 90% of our active Florida-based Cast members and employees having verified that they are fully vaccinated, and we consider this to be very successful," the memo stated.

Nick Caturano, who has been employed by Disney World for 16 years, showed the memo to the outlet, as The Blaze points out.

"We all want to go back to a sense of normalcy. We all hoped the vaccine would do the trick. And it seemed like it was starting to work, but people are getting the COVID...to separate them doesn't make sense,” Caturano said.

The change in Disney’s rules comes after DeSantis signed a law that stops private employers from making the COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory.

"We are respecting people's individual freedom in this state," DeSantis said during a press conference in Brandon, Florida.

Companies that have less than 99 employees will be faced with a $10,000 fine for each breach, and larger companies will pay $50,000 in fines for each breach related to an individual worker.

“As we would expect, Disney has amended its vaccination policy to comply with Florida law. We are confident that other companies in Florida will likewise follow the laws signed by Governor DeSantis this week. Nobody should lose his or her job over COVID vaccine mandates,” Christina Pushaw, spokesperson for DeSantis, commented on the change of policy that took place inside Disney.

"Disney is a major employer in Florida, and we are proud that the 'happiest place on Earth' is here in our state," she concluded.