TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) – Florida’s largest hospital system said it was on track to immunize nearly 20,000 health workers against COVID-19, as Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday a delay of hundreds of thousands of dose of Pfizer vaccine.
But DeSantis said the first batch of the Modern vaccine (370,000 doses) could begin to return to its state as soon as this weekend and would allow for a wider distribution of the drug to hospitals across the state, in the United States. pending federal authorization.
Florida began receiving its share of the coronavirus vaccine Monday and the state was expected to receive about 450,000 doses produced by Pfizer over the next two weeks. But production problems could prevent them from being delivered.
“It simply came to our notice then. Viously, obviously, it would be shipped relatively soon if we got it, “DeSantis told a news conference in West Palm Beach.” We don’t know if we’ll get any or not. “
DeSantis, the state will take whatever it can get while trying to control the control of a pandemic that has infected more than 1.1 million Floridians since COVID-19 made its first state appearance in the March.
On Tuesday, the state health department reported a daily increase of more than 9,400 cases. The state also reported 94 new deaths, raising the cumulative death toll to 20,365.
The top priority is to use early vaccine shipments to protect health workers, who have been at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic.
Officials at one of Florida’s largest hospital networks said Tuesday they were about to vaccinate 19,500 health workers against COVID-19 in the Jackson health system and other Miami hospitals in seven days to prevent staff shortages. , as the state continues to see an increasing number of patients with the virus.
Jackson Health System President and CEO Carlos Migoya told reporters that the doses that arrived Tuesday would be administered first to Jackson Health and the University of Miami Health System before heading to other hospitals in Miami County. -Dade.
“It’s a challenge, but I think we can achieve it,” Migoya said. “Our healthcare workers who care for patients and who have a direct or indirect impact have the ability to get the vaccine and protect themselves. They can continue to work and, at the same time, protect their families. ”
Hospitalizations have increased in Florida over the past month, with nearly 5,100 COVID-19 patients in the state on Tuesday, up from 4,876 on Monday.
The number of hospitalizations had exceeded 9,500 in July, when the best doctors at Jackson Health warned that Miami was “the epicenter of the pandemic.” But, according to state data, it had fallen steadily and reached 2,000 people in September and October.
Migoya said health workers should be the “community ambassadors” to encourage the general public to get the vaccine once it is available.
The pandemic has not only been a public health issue, but also an economic one.
DeSantis used a meat restaurant in West Palm Beach as a backdrop for his Tuesday press conference, arguing that the economic livelihoods of Floridians were just as important.
He said workers in the restaurant and hospitality industry have “caught him in the chin” because of the layoffs.
“I just want to send a message so that some may want to shut you down, but we want to pull you up,” DeSantis told workers who joined him at his media event.
State Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat, argued with the governor’s public statements in support of the economy recently, Smith said, to give direct help to troubled businesses.
“We need to take steps to protect public health and provide relief to small businesses without stopping,” Smith said in a telephone interview. “No one advocates a stop.”