TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Gov. Ron DeSantis again outlined his plan for distributing the newly FDA endorsed Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in a video statement to Floridians on Thursday.
According to DeSantis, the state has been allocated 179,400 doses in the first shipment by the federal government and will be expecting the shipment of doses within the week.
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel endorsed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use authorization on Thursday, with a final FDA decision expected within days.
The governor cautioned that Florida will not have enough doses to vaccinate everyone immediately, but said there is a list of priority groups to receive the vaccination first.
“Our top priority is residents of long-term care facilities,” said DeSantis. “They are at the greatest risk and this vaccine could have a positive impact on them, not just protecting them from COVID, but allowing them to return to a more normal life.”
In addition to long term care facilities, the other priority will be to vaccination health care workers who are in high risk and high contact environments.
The full breakdown of where the 179,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will go are as followed:
- 97,500 doses to hospitals to administer the vaccine to high-contact and high-exposure health care personnel
- 60,450 doses of the vaccine will be sent to CVS and Walgreens for use in long-term care facilities
- 21,450 doses of the vaccine will go directly to the Florida Department of Health to be distributed via strike teams from Health, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida National Guard to go into long-term care facilities and administer the vaccine in areas with a high concentration of facilities
Once the vaccine supply increases over the next few weeks, the plan then includes vaccinating elderly residents and those who may have significant comorbidities, making them high-risk for complications from COVID-19, according to DeSantis.
Gov. DeSantis said that the state will also be monitoring the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines as they progress through trials and approvals.
