Florida is expanding access to vaccines to teachers, first responders ages 50 and older

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed an executive order extending the requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine in the state of Florida to include law enforcement officers 50 and older, firefighters 50 and older, and K-12 school personnel 50 and older.

The governor announced the executive order during a newsletter in Tallahassee on Monday.

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The governor attributed the expansion to the Emergency Use Authorization of the single-use Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was approved by the FDA on Sunday.

“We don’t know exactly how much, but for now the numbers we’re looking at for Johnson and Johnson’s shipping to Florida this week are 175,000 doses that haven’t been confirmed yet, but we hope it will be very soon,” DeSantis said.

Read the new executive order here.

The governor said he believes all people covered by this extended eligibility could potentially be vaccinated with the first shipment of the J&J vaccine.

“We could probably do all those 50 K-12 personnel and police, fire, with just our J&J shipment,” DeSantis said.

However, he did not say that the mission would be specifically assigned for that purpose.

“There is an argument that J&J may even be better for some people, but what I would say at the very least is that if you have a chance to take the J&J, take the J&J,” DeSantis said.

Wendy Doromal, president of the Orange County Classroom Teacher’s Association, said she appreciates the new guidelines that include more teachers, but says she believes all teachers should be vaccinated.

“Of course we appreciate every step, baby steps are good, but we need a giant step here,” said Doromal.

This new expansion comes after DeSantis signed another executive order on Friday, expanding the option for vaccines to include people who consider hospitals and doctors “ extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. ”

“This is a massive expansion of access to the covid vaccine for medically vulnerable people under 65,” said Orlando State Representative Carlos Guillermo-Smith. “If you are medically vulnerable to COVID, under the age of 65 with a doctor’s certificate, you qualify for the vaccine.”

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Franc Cadet of Orange Blossom Family in Orlando said he has received no advice from the state on guidelines for vaccinating people who are considered extremely vulnerable.

“Is it a chronic condition, is it multiple chronic conditions, is it just a doctor’s note saying I have a chronic condition of hypertension, then I need the vaccine.” That’s what I’m worried about, ”Cadet said. “We absolutely need more information, more guidance when it comes to people with chronic conditions.”

HUGE! Late Friday, @RTLNews signed an EO EXPANDING COVID vaccine access for medically vulnerable children under 65 from hospitals, only to now include doctors’ offices and pharmacies. We insisted on this! That means people under the age of 65 can be vaccinated @Publix @Walmart pic.twitter.com/uHV37FSK5Z

– Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) February 28, 2021

Cadet said he appreciates the pressure to get more people vaccinated, but he fears seniors who want the vaccine may be missing out.

“I’m concerned about the seniors who might be missing, the rest of the seniors 65 and older,” Cadet said.

The executive order announcement came after the governor and several state lawmakers announced plans for legislation targeting China and other foreign governments that may be attempting to steal intellectual property from Florida-based companies and research institutions.

“The Chinese Communist Party has made it a mission of their global expansion of power to steal intellectual property from our companies, our government and our academic institutions,” said DeSantis.

Those bills will be discussed during the 2021 parliamentary term that began on Monday in Tallahassee.

Dr. Raul Pino, Orange County health officer, described the new group’s vaccination process.

“We need to verify age, we need to verify residence, and now we need to verify if they are firefighters, if they are law enforcement officers and employed by the school,” Pino said.

Alan Harris of Seminole County Emergency Management explains how willing the county is to vaccinate this new group.

“We have planned for this activity to take place. Part of our planning has always been to have an afternoon evening event, so next week we will be launching some afternoon evening events for those who are 50 or older and meet the criteria, ”said Harris.

Scott Howat told OCPS how many new eligible school personnel are eligible for a vaccine in the district

“So 9,542 would be eligible,” Howat said.

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