Publix vaccinations expand in Florida, says Governor DeSantis



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Frank gluck

| Fort Myers News-Press

Governor Ron DeSantis hopped around Florida on Tuesday to announce an expanded partnership with grocery chain Publix to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to seniors and front-line medical workers closer to home.

The idea, the governor said during a midday stop outside a Publix in Cape Coral, is to expand access for seniors who may have difficulty navigating the call recording systems operated by the Ministry of Health and to go to centralized vaccination centers. In Lee County, for example, the vaccination center is located near the Southwest Florida International Airport.

To reinforce that point, DeSantis said that when he was in a Jupiter Publix earlier today, Palm Beach County officials told him that 90% of seniors in their county live within a mile and half of a Publix.

More: Which Publix stores in Lee County carry COVID-19 vaccines? Here is a list

More: Publix accepts applications for COVID-19 vaccine in Collier County at 16 sites

By the end of this week, 242 Publix pharmacies in 17 counties will be offering vaccines, DeSantis said during his afternoon stop at a Publix in Viera, Brevard County. In Jupiter, he announced similar arrangements with stores in Palm Beach, Martin, and Monroe counties.

“We think it will probably be very convenient for our seniors,” DeSantis told reporters in Viera.

DeSantis said that while more vaccinations for Publix might temporarily limit the number of doses received by local health departments, the state chose Publix because of its effectiveness.

“We have 270,000 (vaccinations) to distribute,” DeSantis told Viera. “Obviously we’re taking it a step further with Publix now. So you don’t get that many deliveries in other areas. There are hospitals that may not get anything this weekend because they still have some.”

But whatever the federal government sends, “we’ll get the most out of it,” DeSantis added.

“Ultimately we wanted to expand Publix because it was successful.”

PDF: List of Publix stores offering COVID-19 vaccinations

Publix stores will vaccinate 100 to 125 people per day, DeSantis said. Appointments can be made on the Publix website.

“So that’s a difference between a centralized site where you’re trying to get so many people through, which can be logistically difficult,” DeSantis said.

Tuesday’s announcements were the latest step in DeSantis’ use of the state’s largest grocery chain to administer vaccines. The program began two weeks ago in three counties in central Florida.

In southwest Florida, Publix will be offering photos at all of its 32 Lee County drugstores, starting Thursday, as well as seven stores in Charlotte County. Sixteen Collier stores already do so. In Brevard, photos will be given in 22 Publix stores.

Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Health in Lee County said on Tuesday it will schedule 5,800 more appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations Thursday and Friday at the Lee County vaccination site near from Southwest Florida International Airport.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis talks about COVID vaccinations at a Publix in Cape Coral

“Florida was the first state in the country to prioritize the elderly when it comes to vaccines,” Governor Ron DeSantis said in a Cape Coral Publix on Jan. 19, 2021. He shared updates on vaccinations against COVID-19.

Andrew West, Fort Myers News-Press

Those hoping to secure a spot should call 866-200-3468 at 9 a.m. Wednesday. This is the same phone line that was operational last week. He won’t accept a date until 9 a.m., county officials say.

More: COVID-19 vaccine tracking: See how many people in Florida have been vaccinated, by county, state

Reservations should be processed within minutes, as has been the case since vaccinations began at the end of last month. DeSantis noted this in his own ad.

“The problem with phones is that they melt,” he told the Cape Coral stop. “You have to have a fleet of people (employing them). So having a county that can do that is very, very difficult. So having an online platform (like Publix’s) is probably a better way. “

But Lee County officials bristled at the idea that its site and appeals system was causing delays in getting people vaccinated in a timely manner.

“If the doses were available, I would promise to get everyone in Lee County vaccinated by the end of May,” County Director Roger Desjarlais said at a press conference on Tuesday. distinct. “We are ready to accelerate this operation up to 10,000 doses per day.”

Related coverage: Lee County Says Inadequate COVID-19 Vaccine A Major Barrier to Vaccination

When asked if the Publix program was removing vaccines from the Lee County Health Department’s immunization program, county spokeswoman Betsy Clayton said no.

Lee County administered about 9,000 doses last week. And, to date, more than 19,000 in total have been vaccinated at the Lee County inoculation site since December 28.

The federal government has informed the state that Florida will receive 266,100 doses for the first injections and 506,300 doses for the second injections in this week’s allotment, said Cody McCloud, a spokesperson for the governor’s office.

More than 1,200 vaccine suppliers – hospitals, county health departments, pharmacies – stand ready to deliver vaccines to the arms of hundreds of thousands of people who demand them as soon as the federal government issues them, said last week the Director of the Emergency Management Division, Jared Moskowitz.

And the state is in the process of developing its own registration system to be launched in the coming weeks which will hopefully eliminate the problems encountered in the first few weeks of registration.

But the federal government is only letting the state see six days ahead, and weekly shipments have declined instead of increasing as originally planned.

Biden’s incoming administration has announced that it will mobilize the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard as part of its plan to deliver 100 million doses of the vaccine in its first 100 days in office.

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COVID Vaccine: Can You Still Be Contagious?

Vaccinologist Dr Greg Poland discusses what it is like after your first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Staff Video, USA TODAY

More: COVID-19 vaccine ‘is our way forward,’ Florida’s top health official told lawmakers

Asked about these plans at the Cape Coral stop on Tuesday, DeSantis said changing the existing distribution system and adding a layer of government bureaucracy “could be potentially problematic.”

“In Florida all we need is more vaccines,” he said. “You give us more vaccines, we have the (means) to be able to pass it (to people).”

Lee County reporter Bill Smith, Tallahassee reporter Jeffrey Schweers and Florida Today reporter Dave Berman contributed to this report.

Frank Gluck is a surveillance reporter with The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Connect with him at [email protected] or on Twitter: @FrankGluck

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