Florida seniors are starting to swarm COVID-19 vaccination sites

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been begging for patience from anxious seniors waiting their turn to be inoculated against COVID-19, as confusion and frustration has arisen over the availability of the life-saving vaccine among some of the state’s most vulnerable.

At vaccination sites across the country, the elderly have formed long queues – some camping overnight with lawn chairs and blankets – in hopes of gaining immunity to fight the virus. Before sunrise on Wednesday morning, a vaccine in southwest Florida had already been counted for that day, prompting officials to refuse anyone else who arrived.

Seniors from other parts of the state have been frustrated by busy phone lines and websites that will no longer issue new vaccination meetings.

DeSantis has given priority to Floridians over the age of 65 to be next in line for the state’s vaccine stock, now that most health care workers and other first responders are protected against 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 percent of those who died from the disease were over the age of 65, stressing the urgency of vaccinating older Floridians, the governor said Wednesday.

“The supply of COVID-19 vaccine is still limited. We currently do not have enough vaccine on hand for all 4 million elderly people in the state of Florida, “the governor said during a press conference in Delray Beach. “We will get there, but it will not happen overnight. So please be patient. “

Against the background of uncertainty about how quickly the state can purchase more than two doses of vaccines available now, county health departments and hospitals across the state are struggling to deliver the vaccine to the elderly.

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 calls to get someone to a Miami Beach hospital that began inoculate the elderly last week with limited doses of vaccines.

“It reminded me of the ’80s when you had to go to a radio station to be the tenth caller to get concert tickets,” Humphrey said. “When I finally made it, I cried on the phone with the woman.”

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

Orlando Sentinel reported that state health officials in Orange County closed the online portal on Tuesday after generating 30,000 meetings in about 24 hours. And the Broward Health hospital network said it would stop scheduling vaccine appointments the same day they started “because of overwhelming community demand.”

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

“We have been at home for almost 10 months now. It’s very important for 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.

On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health said it administered doses to about 175,465 in the state, most of them health workers, first aid nurses and residents of assisted living facilities.

Some seniors began receiving photos Monday in the first eight counties that received their vaccinations last week. The other 59 counties of the state are expected to start receiving their share of vaccines soon.

In Miami, the Jackson Health System began administering vaccines to those 65 years of age and older who receive network care. Music producer Emilio Estefan, 67, and Miami Dolphins senior vice president Nat Moore, 69, received their first dose of vaccine Wednesday in front of reporters at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Jackson Health said it will launch an online platform next week for residents to book appointments to get the shot.

Counties and hospitals have taken different approaches to how they administer the vaccine, causing confusion, frustration and lines.

“They will solve the problems as they were,” the governor said. “If you are 65 or older, you will have access to it. It may not be for everyone today, it may not be for next week. But in the next few weeks, as long as we continue to get the supply, you will have the opportunity to do so. “

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said she wrote to DeSantis advising him to mobilize the Florida National Guard to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, arguing that the launch was too slow.

“Despite the fact that the state received 1,218,300 doses of vaccine, only 15% of them were actually administered,” she said in the letter. The lack of training and progress in the administration of these life-saving critical vaccines is inexcusable.

___

Gomez Licon reported from Miami.