Floridians 65 and over to get coronavirus vaccine first, DeSantis orders

TALLAHASSEE – Floridians 65 and over will be the first in the general population to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with the first doses being administered as early as Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis said on Wednesday.

DeSantis has signed an executive order ensuring that older Floridians will be the first in the general population to receive vaccines. Healthcare workers and people in long-term care facilities, who are most vulnerable to the virus, are already being treated, and DeSantis said the state has already administered 70,000 injections.

With the arrival of more vaccines, DeSantis said the state was ready to expand vaccines to people over 65.

Treatments will be delivered by county hospitals and health departments as of Monday, but DeSantis did not say how people could sign up for the shot. He said those details will be available closer to Monday.

“Be with us,” he said.

These health services will not include Tampa Bay on Monday, however. A spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Health Department said vaccines for the area will be available “in the coming weeks” but will not have them available on Monday.

On Tuesday, DeSantis said it wanted to vaccinate the more than 3 million Floridians over 70 over the next six weeks, prioritizing them over essential workers and young people with underlying health conditions.

“The vaccines are going to be targeted where the risk is greatest, and that is in our senior population,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “We are not going to put healthy young workers ahead of our elderly and vulnerable population.”