Two locations in South Florida will be among several worship centers across the state that will begin offering the COVID vaccine to the elderly.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced locations Sunday in Lynn Haven, just outside Panama City. Facilities include Hollywood locations at the Koinonia Worship Center, as well as a location in Fort Lauderdale at New Mount Olive Baptist Church.
Other locations in the state include Lynn Haven, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa and St. Lucia. DeSantis added that the locations are aimed at administering the vaccine to those in the black communities in the state.
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“You see that some of these big hospitals are starting to get a lot of vaccinations, and we appreciate that,” DeSantis said as he described the various ways the state is trying to vaccinate residents.
On Saturday, the State Department for Emergency Management said Florida expects to receive an additional 250,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine next week. The state has already received more than 1.2 million doses to date.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state now has an average of about 40,000 photos a day and is poised to increase that number when the state receives more offers from the federal government.
“The demand for the vaccine is high and we know there is no time to waste when it comes to getting gunfire,” DeSantis said in a recorded statement released Saturday.
The state has made vaccinations available to front-line health care workers, staff and residents of long-term care facilities and nursing homes, and people aged 65 and over.
“We have more than 4.5 million seniors in the state and prioritizing them for the vaccine is the most effective tool we have to fight the pandemic,” DeSantis said.