Florida’s director of emergency management said Thursday that a statewide appointment system for COVID vaccines should be ready in a few weeks, which will put an end to the chaos that marks the implementation of vaccines in Florida to its most vulnerable residents.
Director Jared Moskowitz described the plans for the online portal in an appearance before a committee in the legislature that held hearings on the pandemic in Tallahassee.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has made it a priority to provide coronavirus vaccines to people 65 and older, which has led to increased demand. State health officials left the administration of vaccines primarily to hospitals and county health departments, and some seniors camped in long lines outside vaccination sites, to leave them out when supplies ran out.
“I know it feels chaotic (67 different counties, systems and interpretations), but health care is provided locally,” Moskowitz told lawmakers. He said a registration system could help alleviate the strain counties that are now vaccinated.
“We are working on a registration system that we plan to launch in the coming weeks to help integrate site registration and fix some of the issues we have all read about,” he said.
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The design of a statewide online portal is still under discussion and will be made available to counties – which are not required to use the system – to help them coordinate vaccinations.
DeSantis has tried to expand the number of vaccination sites. The state receives $ 194 million from the federal government to help distribute vaccines.
As of Wednesday, some 774,000 Floridians had at least one shot of two federal-approved vaccines. More than 1.5 million people have tested positive for the virus in the state since the pandemic began; almost 24,000 have died.
With states requiring the federal government to obtain supplies, no one can be sure when there will be enough vaccines to meet demand.
State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat from the Orlando area, wants state officials to further expand vaccination sites and give seniors who may not have access to computers and online portals the opportunity to register. for vaccination over your phone or in person.
“It shouldn’t be an online-only system,” he said. He also urged state officials to do a better job of reaching out to communities, especially those of color, who might be reluctant to rely on the vaccine.
Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees told the Senate Health Policy Committee Wednesday that Florida receives about a million doses a month, suggesting it could be many months before the general population can be fully vaccinated.
Early data published in the first and second tests of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine show that it appears to be safe and generates an immune response.
Rivkees, like the governor, has urged patience.
“This vaccine is our ray of hope,” Rivkees told the committee.
Other vaccines are expected to get federal approval in the coming months, which will surely bolster the state’s ability to vaccinate all 21.5 million Florida residents.
Senator Gary Farmer, the top Democrat in the state Senate, acknowledged that the state is bound to the federal government, but criticized DeSantis for his “lack of leadership” in the pandemic. Farmer said the distribution of the vaccine has been messy due to the lack of a cohesive plan to get the shots in the arms of Floridians.
In some vaccination sites, the elderly have had to be sidelined because vaccine allocations had dried up. Dating websites have fallen due to the huge demand.
Carlos Suarez has the news on vaccine distribution in South Florida, where residents are eager to find out how they can sign up to receive a dose.
“A lot of people are asking the question: when will we have the vaccine and what is the schedule like?” asked Sen. Aaron Bean, a Republican.
“Is it fair to say that, in simple terms, in the current supply is that in the current supply is a maximum period of 22 months?” the senator asked.
Rivkees said he hopes other vaccines will enter the market soon in order to speed up the schedule.
“We are very hopeful that other vaccines will be produced in the short term,” Rivkees said.