Communications was supposed to be a key ingredient of Florida's vaccine rollout. Until it wasn't. A three-month vacancy in top communications personnel only deepened the continued lack of transparency that has plagued the state's response to the pandemic since the beginning, say lawmakers and government watchdog groups who receive hundreds of calls from Floridians each day searching for answers. “These are crucial positions. That, combined with concerns these offices are slow-walking public records requests and requests for information in general, is absolutely concerning,” said Ben Wilcox, research director at Integrity Florida, a nonpartisan and nonprofit government watchdog. And it continues to cause delays in fulfilling public records requests, which has been a tug-of-war with the state since the beginning of the pandemic, Wilcox and other government watchdogs said.