5/1/2021

Florida Department of Health Provides Week 20 Updates on Florida’s Vaccination Efforts Under Governor DeSantis’ Leadership

~State Surgeon General Issues Public Health Advisory Rescinding Previously Issued Advisories, Expanding Vaccine Eligibility, and Encouraging the Resumption of In-Person Government Operations and Services Statewide~

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 twentieth week of vaccine distribution and is continuing to increase vaccine access statewide.

State Surgeon General Dr. Rivkees issued a Public Health Advisory rescinding previous advisories, expanding vaccine eligibility to include non-Florida residents providing goods and services in Florida, and encouraging the resumption of in-person government operations and services.

In response to the Public Health Advisory, state-supported and federally-supported vaccination sites and events will no longer require individuals to provide multiple proofs of residency to receive a vaccine. Individuals will now be required to verbally confirm if they are a Florida resident or if they are in the state for the purpose of providing goods and services in Florida.

The full Public Health Advisory is available here.

Governor DeSantis’ administration is taking the necessary steps to ensure the vaccine 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., 8,808,680 individuals have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Florida; 3,684,946 million are seniors ages 65 and older. 

State of Florida Vaccine Accomplishments To-Date:

Week 20 (Underway)

• State Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees issued a Public Health Advisory rescinding the public health advisories issued on March 25, 2020, June 22, 2020, July 21, 2020 and January 21, 2021. The Public Health Advisory also expands vaccine access and eligibility to any individual in Florida who is present in Florida for the purpose of providing goods or services for the benefit of residents and visitors of the state. Finally, the Public Health Advisory encourages government offices to conduct in-person operations and services. Find the full Public Health Advisory here.
• Governor DeSantis announced that the Division has opened a new COVID-19 vaccination site at Inter Miami CF Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The site can administer the COVID-19 vaccine to individuals over the age of 16. The site is open daily from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and walk-ups are accepted. The site opened April 26 and can administer up to 250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, per day.
• The state is hosting mobile, one-day vaccination clinics in partnership with local community organizations to increase vaccine access to all Floridians. To date, the state’s fleet of 20 mobile vaccination buses has vaccinated more than 76,000 individuals. Find the latest mobile vaccine event schedule here.
• To date, more than 20,000 vaccines have been administered through the statewide homebound vaccination program. The state continues to encourage homebound individuals to sign up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at their home by filling out the survey available here, emailing HomeboundVaccine@em.myflorida.com or by calling 866-779-6121.
• The state continues to canvass Florida’s communities with COVID-19 vaccine outreach teams that help answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, help individuals identify vaccination sites near them and pre-register individuals for vaccine appointments. To date, state outreach teams have knocked on more than 700,000 doors across the state.
• 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. To date, more than 106,000 vaccines have been administered in partnership with places of worship. Find this week’s places of worship vaccine events here.
• Under Governor DeSantis' leadership, more than 2,000 vaccination sites have been opened statewide in partnership with local communities, pharmacies and hospitals. The Florida Department of Health continues to identify active vaccine sites. All vaccine sites in Florida are posted on the Florida Department of Health's website here. 

Last week’s accomplishments are available here.

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.