First doses of COVID vaccine distributed to parts of Florida

Posted on December 16, 2020

Florida has been allocated 179,400 doses from the first shipment of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, which received emergency federal approval last week.

The first doses were allocated to front-line healthcare workers at several large state hospitals and for distribution to at-risk populations in long-term care facilities.

Additionally, as part of a vaccination pilot program, some of the very first vaccine doses were sent to health departments for distribution to first responders and healthcare workers in Broward and Pinellas counties.

As additional shipments are made available, the state’s third priority will be elderly populations.

Due to the extraordinary storage requirements associated with the Pfizer vaccine, the state identified the following hospitals for distribution: Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami-Dade County, Memorial Healthcare System in Broward County, Tampa General Hospital in Hillsborough County, Advent Health in Orange County and UF Health in Duval County.

According to Department of Health- Taylor (DOH-Taylor) Public Information Officer Martine Young, it is unknown when COVID vaccine distribution will expand to Taylor County.

While Taylor County is not yet scheduled to receive the vaccine, DOH-Taylor and Doctors’ Memorial Hospital (DMH) officials are teaming up in anticipation of the vaccine becoming available to the Big Bend region.

“DMH is partnering with the Taylor County Health Department to serve as a site for administering the COVID-19 vaccines to interested staff and patients once it is available in our area,” DMH interim CEO Lauren Faison-Clark said.

The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, the second being administered around three weeks after the first. According to studies conducted on the vaccine, it is around 90% effective, including in older populations most susceptible to the disease.

According to published reports on the initial study, the vaccine has been shown to protect people against the COVID-19 virus, although it less clear at this time whether it combats the spread of the disease from those who are exhibiting no symptoms.

On Friday, Dec. 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer vaccine, allowing its distribution in the country and use for people ages 16 and older. The first deliveries began this week.

FDA officials said the vaccine was “well-tolerated” by those in the test studies, with most side effects going away shortly after the vaccine. The only side effects presenting in more than 2% of the test subjects were fatigue and headache, with older people reporting less adverse or more mild effects.

A second vaccine from Moderna could receive similar approval as soon as this week. A third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson is awaiting the results of a study that is expected to be ready next month.

On Thursday, Dec. 10, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis outlined the state’s COVID-19 vaccine plan in a public statement.

“The vaccine is beginning to be used all over the world, including in Great Britain and Canada, and we are excited to move forward here in the United States,” DeSantis said.

“The federal government has allocated Florida 179,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for our first shipment and we anticipate receiving these initial doses within the week,” DeSantis added. “We are working to get as much vaccine for our citizens as possible, but Florida will not, nor will any state, have enough to vaccinate everyone right off the bat.

“So, we’ve set priorities to help protect our most vulnerable, as well as those on the front lines of the pandemic,” DeSantis said.

“Our top priority is residents of long-term care facilities. 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.

“Also, a top priority is health care workers who are in high-risk and high-contact environments. And those initial two priorities will be the focus of the 179,000 doses that we have initially received from the federal government.

“Finally, as the vaccine supply increases over the next few weeks, we want to start getting it out to our elderly residents, as well as those who may have significant comorbidities, making them high-risk for complications from COVID-19.

According to DeSantis, the first round of the 179,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be allocated as follows:

• 97,500 doses will be sent 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. Both companies are under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to administer vaccines inside those facilities.

• 21,450 doses of the vaccine will go directly to the Florida Department of Health. “We will be using 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,” DeSantis said.

“Now, we hope to have more good news about additional doses of both the Pfizer and hopefully, the newly-approved Moderna vaccine, next week,” he said.

“And, of course, we are looking forward to clinical trials concluding for Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine, which is a one-dose vaccine and does not require any special storage.”

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