TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s largest hospital system said it is on track to immunize nearly 20,000 health workers against COVID-19, while Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday announced a postponement of hundreds of thousands of doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
But DeSantis said the first batch of the Moderna vaccine – 370,000 doses – could go to his state this weekend and allow for wider distribution of the drug to hospitals across the state, pending federal approval.
Florida began receiving its share of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday, and the state should get about 450,000 doses from Pfizer over the next two weeks. But production problems can prevent them from being delivered.
‘We’ll just have to wait. Obviously, it would ship relatively quickly if we got it, ”DeSantis said at a news conference in West Palm Beach. “We don’t know whether we’ll get one or not.”
The state will take what it can get, DeSantis said, as it tries to take control of a pandemic that has infected more than 1.1 million Floridians since COVID-19 first appeared in the state in March.
On Tuesday, the state health service reported a daily increase of more than 9,400 cases. The state also reported 94 new deaths, bringing the cumulative death toll to 20,365.
The highest priority is to use early shipments of the vaccines to protect health workers who have been at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic.
Officials at one of Florida’s largest hospital networks said on Tuesday they were on track to vaccinate 19,500 health workers against COVID-19 at Jackson Health System and other Miami hospitals in seven days to avoid staff shortages as the state continues to see a rising number of patients with the virus.
Carlos Migoya, president and CEO of Jackson Health System, told reporters that the doses arriving Tuesday would be administered first at Jackson Health and the University of Miami Health System before moving to other hospitals in Miami-Dade County.
“It’s a challenge, but I think we can get it done,” said Migoya. “Our health professionals who care for patients who are directly or indirectly affected have the opportunity to receive the vaccine and be protected for themselves. They can continue to work while protecting their families. ”
Florida hospital admissions have increased in the past month with nearly 5,100 COVID-19 patients in the state on Tuesday, up from 4,876 on Monday.
Hospital admissions had risen above 9,500 in July, when top Jackson Health doctors warned Miami was “the epicenter of the pandemic.” But according to state data, it had fallen steadily, rising to around 2,000 in September and October.
Migoya said health workers should be “ambassadors to the community” to encourage the general public to take the vaccine as soon as it is widely available.
The pandemic is not only a public health problem, but also an economic one.
DeSantis used a steakhouse in West Palm Beach as the backdrop for his press conference on Tuesday, arguing that Floridians’ economic livelihoods were just as important.
He said restaurant workers and the lodging and hospitality industries have “taken it on the chin” over shutdowns.
“I just want to send a message that some may want to shut you down, but we want to pull you up,” DeSantis told workers who joined him for his media event.
State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat, challenged the governor’s public statements in support of the economy, while, according to Smith, he did little to provide direct aid to companies struggling.
“We need to take steps to protect public health and help small businesses without a closure,” Smith said in a telephone interview. “Nobody is arguing for a closure.”