Florida Governor provides updates about COVID-19 pandemic
DORAL, FL – Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, extended the state of emergency for the pandemic for another 60 days, while also provided updates about the vaccination plan.
The top leader of the state said on Tuesday his current priority is to help the millions of Floridians that are struggling due to the coronavirus.
“As Florida recovers and re-launches its economy, l am committed to providing all available resources to assist Floridians and local communities with their efforts,” Tuesday’s order read, as reported by CBS Miami.
The last extension was issued on Nov. 3 and with the new one, Jared Moskowitz remains as the director of the Division of Emergency Management, which role is to coordinate the state’s response to the pandemic.
Ever since the pandemic hit the state on March, Florida Governor has issued several orders that have allowed him to direct funds for supplies, equipment and personnel, let out-of-state medical professionals practice in Florida and pharmacists prescribe up to 30-day emergency refills of prescription drugs.
On the other hand, DeSantis also talked about the vaccination distribution plan in the state during a press conference held at Kings Points in Delray Beach.
In the event, the Palm Beach County Department of Health administered vaccines to 300 residents of Kings Point, all of whom are 65 years of age or older, as Florida Governor has made it clear one of the main priorities is to ensure people within that age range gets vaccinated.
According to the Florida Disaster website, up until now, Week Three of Florida’s vaccine distribution plan, over 175,000 Floridians have received a vaccine for COVID-19.
“Florida was the first state in the nation to begin offering vaccines to staff and residents of Florida’s over 4,000 long-term care facilities and we were also the first state in the nation to begin offering vaccines to EMTs and paramedics. Florida is also now the first state in the nation to mobilize county health departments and county emergency managers to actively vaccinate seniors 65 and older in the community,” it is read in their website.
In line with all this, Florida Governor announced next week (week 4), the state will continue working towards ensuring every individual 65 and older that wants a vaccine can access it.
This week, Florida is preparing to receive 127,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine. 93,900 doses of the vaccine will be distributed to the county health departments that have not previously received doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
In addition, 33,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine will be sent to 54 hospitals that had not previously received the COVID-19 vaccine. This means, all 67 Florida counties will have vaccine doses ready by the end of the week.
As far as the Pfizer vaccine goes, it was announced Florida is expecting to receive 118,950 doses of that vaccine aimed at administering 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.
For now, seniors may only be able to get vaccinated through county health departments in partnership with county emergency managers and through hospitals.
For the full list of hospitals that have received the vaccine, click here.