Florida seniors are starting to swarm with COVID-19 vaccination sites

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pleaded for patience with anxious seniors waiting their turn to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as confusion and frustration over the availability of the life-saving vaccine arose among some of the state’s most vulnerable .

At vaccination sites across the state, seniors formed long lines – some camped out at night with lawn chairs and blankets – hoping to gain immunity to fight the virus. Even before the sun came up on Wednesday morning, the vaccine stockpile in one of the counties in southwest Florida was already booked, prompting officials to reject anyone who arrived.

Seniors in other parts of the state were frustrated with busy phone lines and websites that would no longer make new vaccination appointments.

DeSantis has given priority to Floridians over the age of 65 as next in line for the state’s vaccine supply, now that most health workers and other first responders are protected from the virus that has infected more than 1.2 million Floridians.

On Wednesday, health officials reported 13,871 new cases and 139 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 21,857.

More than 82% of those who have died of the disease are over the age of 65, underscoring the urgency to get older Floridians vaccinated, the governor said Wednesday.

“The supply of COVID-19 vaccines is still limited. We currently do not have enough vaccine for all more than 4 million seniors in the state of Florida, ”the governor said at a news conference in Delray Beach. “We’ll get there, but it’s not going to happen overnight. So please be patient. “

Amid uncertainty about how soon the state can get more doses of two now-available vaccines, provincial health departments and hospitals across the state are struggling to deliver the vaccine to seniors.

Lin Humphrey, a college professor whose 81-year-old mother lives with him in a high-rise apartment in Miami, said it took him about 80 phone calls to get someone on the line at a Miami Beach hospital that started vaccinating elderly people with disabilities last week. doses of the vaccines.

“It reminded me of the 1980s, when you had to call a radio station to be the 10th caller to get concert tickets,” said Humphrey. “When I finally finished, I cried with the woman on the phone.”

Early Wednesday morning, health officials in Lee County, home of Fort Myers, announced that all three vaccination sites had reached capacity by the third day of providing injections to residents 65 and older. People lined up for a library, recreation center, and theater to get one of the few hundred doses available after health authorities said no appointment was needed as they would be administered on a first-come-first basis grinds.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that state health officials in Orange County shut down its online portal on Tuesday after generating 30,000 appointments in about 24 hours. And the Broward Health hospital network said it would stop scheduling vaccination appointments the same day they started “due to overwhelming demand from the community.”

Abdulla Benkhatar, 90, was at the front of the queue at a Fort Myers recreation center Tuesday morning.

“We have been home for almost 10 months now. It’s very important to me, for my health, and to be able to do things that I like to do and get back to normal, ”he told WZVN-TV.

As of Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health said it had administered doses to about 175,465 in the state, most of them health professionals, first responders, and residents of supported health care facilities.

Some seniors started receiving injections Monday in the first eight counties that received their vaccination allocations last week. The state’s other 59 counties are expected to receive their share of the vaccines soon.

In Miami, Jackson Health System has begun to administer vaccines to people 65 and older who receive care in the network. Music producer Emilio Estefan, 67, and Miami Dolphins senior vice president Nat Moore, 69, received the first dose of the vaccine on Wednesday in the presence of reporters from Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Jackson Health said it will launch an online platform next week where residents can make arrangements to take the photo.

Counties and hospitals have taken different approaches in administering the vaccine, leading to confusion, frustration, and lines.

“They will solve problems, as they have been,” said the governor. “If you are 65 or older, you get access to it. It might not be for everyone today, maybe next week. But in the coming weeks, as long as we keep getting the supply, you will have the chance to get this. “

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said she wrote to DeSantis recommending him mobilize the Florida National Guard to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, arguing that the rollout has been too slow.

“Despite the state receiving 1,218,300 doses of vaccine, only 15% of them have actually been administered,” she said in the letter. “The lack of preparation and progress in administering these critical, life-saving vaccines is inexcusable.”

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Gomez Licon reported from Miami.