1/15/2021

Florida Department of Health Provides Week Five Updates on Florida’s Vaccination Efforts Under Governor DeSantis’ Leadership 01/15/21

~Florida Continues to Lead the Nation in Vaccinating Seniors~

Today, the Florida Department of Health issued an update on the progress of the state's vaccination efforts, as well as its weekly COVID-19 update. The State of Florida is in its fifth week of vaccine distribution and is preparing to support additional vaccination sites statewide.

Today, Governor DeSantis provided an update on Florida's COVID-19 vaccine distribution process. The state is continuing to take a proactive approach to increase vaccinations and prioritize vaccine access for Florida's seniors.

Among states that publicly report on vaccinations for seniors, Florida is the first state in the nation to vaccinate more than 500,000 individuals 65 years of age or older, accounting for nearly 60% of total vaccinations in the state. Due to reporting lags, this number serves as an estimate and understates the total of seniors vaccinated. Governor DeSantis' full address on Florida's leadership in vaccinating seniors is available here. 

This week, Governor DeSantis made several announcements regarding the progress of expanding innovative public-private partnerships with companies like Publix Supermarkets, and announced the expansion of a faith-based partnership to increase vaccine access in underserved communities.

Additionally, per reports, the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) will announce new vaccine deployment recommendations that mirror Florida’s unique strategy. Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida continues to develop innovative pilot programs to increase vaccine access statewide.

Governor DeSantis’ administration is taking the necessary steps to ensure the vaccine – that is now present in every corner of the state – gets administered as quickly as possible. This week, new actions to continue Florida’s proactive approach to vaccinations includes the following:

Vaccinations:

To provide Floridians with the latest information about vaccinations in the state, the Florida Department of Health has issued a COVID-19 vaccine report that is updated daily. This report includes information on the COVID-19 vaccine by county, race, sex and age. Find the COVID-19 vaccine report here.

As of today, at 7 a.m., 849,317 individuals have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Florida. At this time, more than 100 mass vaccination clinics for those 65 and older are planned to take place in the coming weeks through county health departments. As more vaccine becomes available, that number is expected to increase.

The Florida Department of Health continues to provide updates on cases, testing, and fatalities related to COVID-19. Please find all daily reports here.

State of Florida Vaccine Accomplishments To-Date

To date, the state has received more than 1.4 million vaccine doses. The state continues to work closely with the federal government to secure additional shipments. The state is expecting to receive 260,100 first dose allocations and 506,350 second dose allocations throughout next week.

Week Five (Underway)

• Governor DeSantis led the way in prioritizing vaccine access to Florida's seniors, and as a result, Florida was the first state to put Seniors First. Now, the CDC is recommending that states prioritize vaccine access to seniors age 65 and older. As of today, at 7 a.m., more than 500,000 individuals ages 65 and older have received COVID-19 vaccine. That’s nearly 60 percent of the total vaccines provided in Florida.
• This week, under the direction of Governor DeSantis, the Florida Department of Health and Florida Division of Emergency Management partnered with Broward Health to launch a new COVID-19 vaccinate site at Inter Miami CF Stadium at Lockhart Park in Fort Lauderdale. The site will be open Monday through Friday. The site will offer the vaccine to all individuals 65 years of age and older, as well as frontline health care workers. Additional information is available here.
• Governor DeSantis reaffirmed the state’s commitment to the two-dose regimen for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, despite discussions happening at the federal level regarding vaccine allocations. His statement is available here.
• This week, Governor DeSantis continued to focus on leveraging innovative ways to distribute the vaccine and maintain the state's proactive Seniors First approach. He announced a drive-thru vaccine site in The Villages, with the capacity to administer 800 vaccines a day. Vaccines are offered by appointment only. 
• Governor Ron DeSantis announced the expansion of the state’s partnership with Publix to establish COVID-19 vaccination sites at select Publix locations in Florida. In total, Florida has partnered with Publix to open 105 vaccination sites in select locations in Florida. A list of all vaccination sites at Publix locations is available here.
• On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis announced 26 new vaccination sites across five counties in Northwest Florida. More information on that announcement is available here.
• On Wednesday, Governor DeSantis announced new vaccination sites will be established at 40 select Publix locations throughout three counties in Northeast Florida. He also announced new vaccination sites will be established at 16 select Publix locations in Collier County in Southwest Florida. More information on those announcements are available here.
• At the Governor’s direction, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Health continue to identify places of worship and other locations in underserved communities where the COVID-19 vaccine may be administered. This week, 10 additional locations were established in local communities. Each site will administer 500 doses of the vaccine. All appointments for these locations have been filled and walk-ups will not be accepted. The locations are:
• Moriah Missionary Baptist Church 22905 Dr. Harvey Riley St. Palm Bay, FL 32905
• Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church 801 8^th West Palm Beach, FL 33401
• Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church 890 NW 15^th Pompano Beach, FL 33060
• Brownsville Community Center 3200 W De Soto St. Pensacola, FL 32505
• Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church 17601 NW 2^nd Miami Gardens, FL 33169
• Second Baptist Church 11111 Pinkston Dr. Miami, FL 33176
• Greater Bethel Primitive Baptist at Well Recreational Center 2409 Avenue H W Riviera Beach, FL 33404
• Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church 955 20^th St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33712
• Rose of Lima Catholic Church 3800 Pleasant Hill Rd. Osceola, FL 34716
• San Lazaro Church 4400 W 18^th Hialeah, FL 33012
• Under Governor DeSantis’ direction, the Florida Division of Emergency Management continues to work to administer vaccines in more than 4,000 long-term care facilities across the state. These efforts are supplementing and accelerating the vaccinations being undertaken by CVS and Walgreens, pursuant to their agreement with the federal government and reaffirms Florida's commitment to prioritize vaccine access to our most vulnerable populations. The state is expecting to finish this mission by the end of the month.
• The state continues to develop a statewide registration system to streamline the COVID-19 vaccine process. Additional information regarding this system will be available in the coming weeks.
• More than 170 vaccination sites have been opened statewide in partnership with local communities and hospitals. Find the full list here.

Week Four

• Governor DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to work with the Florida Department of Health to identify state-run COVID-19 testing sites that can convert into vaccine sites. The first of these opened at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium this week. The site is able to do 1,000 appointments per day. 
• Governor DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to identify places of worship and other locations in underserved communities where the vaccine may be administered. Each site administered 500 doses of the vaccine. The locations are:
• Lynn Haven Senior Center 905 Pennsylvania Ave. Lynn Haven, FL 32444
• New Mount Olive Baptist Church 400 NW 9th Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
• Koinonia Worship Center 4900 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd Hollywood, FL 33023
• Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church 501 W. Orange Ave. Tallahassee, FL 32310
• John Progressive Missionary Baptist Church 2504 Chipco St. Tampa, FL 33605
• Bernadette Catholic Church 350 NW California Blvd. Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
• Matthew Baptist Church 3811 Moncrief Rd. Jacksonville, FL 32209
• Governor DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to immediately hire 1,000 contract nurses to support vaccination efforts. These nurses are being deployed throughout the entire state to help run vaccination sites. These nurses will supplement the many personnel already in the field, including 800 Florida National Guardsmen, who have been supporting the state’s response since the beginning of the pandemic.
• Governor DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to assume additional responsibilities regarding the administration of vaccines in more than 3,000 assisted living facilities across the state, supplementing and accelerating the efforts being undertaken by CVS and Walgreens, pursuant to their agreement with the federal government.
• Governor Ron DeSantis announced a state partnership with Publix Supermarkets to establish COVID-19 vaccination sites through a new pilot program at 22 of their stores in Marion, Hernando and Citrus counties.
• Governor DeSantis announced the opening of two new vaccination sites operated by Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital – one at Pensacola’s Olive Baptist Church, and the other at the Milton Community Center.
• In the last three weeks, doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed to 226 hospital locations. As part of this allocation, hospitals received enough doses to vaccinate their entire frontline health care staff, with vaccine doses remaining. The list of hospitals that have received vaccine allocations is available here.
• More than 60 vaccination sites have been opened statewide in partnership with local communities and hospitals. Find the full list here. 
• Orlando Health announced the opening of seven community vaccination sites.

Week Three

• Florida remained full speed ahead at vaccinating the state’s most vulnerable residents and sent doses of vaccine to all 67 county health departments.
• Florida received more than 127,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and distributed doses to the remaining county health departments and hospitals that had not received the vaccine to-date.
• Florida received more than 118,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is being used to administer the second dose at the original five pilot hospitals, and long-term care facilities in Broward and Pinellas Counties who received their first dose through Florida Department of Health and Florida National Guard strike teams.

Week Two

• Florida received the first shipment of the Moderna vaccine, which was immediately sent to more than 170 hospital locations that spanned the entire state.
• Governor DeSantis signed an executive order to give next vaccination priority to seniors age 65 and older, as well as highlighting the start of CVS and Walgreens’ administration of vaccines at long-term care facilities.

Week One

• Five pilot hospitals received an allocation of the Pfizer vaccine for frontline health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. At the Governor’s direction, they shared with neighboring hospitals.
• The Governor directed the Florida Department of Health, Florida Division of Emergency Management and Florida National Guard to mobilize EMS strike teams to immediately begin offering vaccines to staff and residents of long-term care facilities to supplement Operation Warp Speed partner efforts a week ahead of schedule.
• Florida offered vaccines to all staff and residents at more than 100 facilities in Pinellas and Broward Counties in just 6 days.
• Agency for Health Care Administration Emergency Rule 59AER20-015 and Emergency Rule 59AER20-014 required all Nursing Homes (NHs) and Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) to enroll in the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program no later than 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, December 3, 2020. Through this program we have successfully enrolled 98% of all ALFs and 100% of ALFs.

About the Florida Department of Health

The Florida Department of Health, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @HealthyFla. For more information please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.