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“The state doesn’t dictate to hospitals,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told CNN’s Rosa Flores on Monday. “These guys are much more skilled at delivering health care services than a state government could ever be.
Although Florida has a structure in place to decide which priority groups to vaccinate, it is up to health facilities to organize the delivery of vaccines to patients. Some hospitals have forsaken a registration system and instead have a first-come, first-served strategy to administer vaccines distributed by the state, DeSantis said. Demand has been high among the elderly, who are among the most at risk for serious illness from Covid-19.
And seniors make up a significant proportion of the state’s population: more than 3.2 million of the 18.8 million Floridians are over 65, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz said in a question-and-answer session on Wednesday that the state was working to manage the variable appointment system from county to county. , especially in planning to serve the elderly who cannot wait in the long lines, according to CNN Affiliate WFTV.
As of Tuesday, around 19 million doses had been distributed nationally and 4.8 million administered, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Florida is one of 12 states that have administered less than a quarter of their vaccines. More than 329,000 people had been vaccinated in the state as of Tuesday, the state said.
Dramatic scenes
The random deployment led to dramatic scenes in the state. On Monday evening, Daytona Beach officials announced that the first 1,000 people queuing for Tuesday’s vaccinations would be allowed to park and wait overnight at Daytona Stadium to ease traffic and roadblocks.
The announcement came after the line began to form 12 hours before the first shot on Tuesday was due, according to WFTV. As of Monday morning, the 1,000 people assigned to receive the vaccine for the day were on site at 6:30 a.m., half an hour before the site opened, the outlet reported.
“Oh, I want this vaccine more than anything,” Daytona Beach Shores resident Deborah Boyd told WFTV. “Honestly, I would have been helicoptered, parachuted to get this vaccine and I’m willing to wait as long as it takes. I can’t live like this anymore.”
The facility reached capacity more than two hours before it opened for vaccinations, the city announced on Facebook.
In South Florida, Broward Health said last week that all of its appointments were booked through February.
While acknowledging that the vaccine rollout has not been perfect, DeSantis said Florida was the “best approach”.
Most states only vaccinate healthcare workers and long-term care patients initially, but Florida has expanded the scope of its doses.
“If you have a 73-year-old parent, 73-year-old grandparent, in the vast majority of states in this country, they can’t be vaccinated. We do not believe this to be true. We believe the elderly should do it. be put first, ”he says.
DeSantis warned hospitals to increase their administration rate, adding that some facilities were doing better than others.
“We want you to use the vaccine. If you don’t use it, we’re going to make sure that the additional allowances are going to be reduced and then extended to places where they make good use of it,” DeSantis said.
To help meet the demand for vaccines among the elderly, Florida has announced the opening of new Covid-19 vaccination sites. Hardrock Stadium in Miami Gardens will serve 1,000 people per day and Publix supermarkets will use 15,000 doses of Moderna vaccine to launch a vaccine site pilot program in 22 stores starting Friday, DeSantis said.
CNN’s Denise Royal and Rosa Flores contributed to this report.
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