NEWS! Florida Could Initially Receive Over 179, 400 Doses of the COVID-19 Vaccine

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is currently being expedited to hospitals across the United States.

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It was recently announced that Advent Health located in Orlando will be among one of the first hospitals in Florida to receive the vaccine. It was also reported earlier today that distribution of the vaccine could start as early as next Monday, December 14th. We now have an idea of how many vaccine doses could be available by then.

According to NBC 2 News, Florida could receive up to 179, 400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Governor Ron DeSantis noted that “Florida will not, nor will any state, have enough to vaccinate everyone right off the bat.” The top priority for the state is to provide the vaccine to residents of long-term care facilities, Health care workers, and other high-contact workers.

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The second group priority will be elderly citizens and those who may have significant comorbidities with a high-risk for COVID-19 complications.

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NBC noted how the Pfizer vaccine will be allocated to residents:

97,500 doses will be sent to hospitals to administer the vaccine to high-contact and high-exposure health care personnel.
60,450 doses of vaccine will be sent to CVS and Walgreens for use in long-term care facilities. Both companies are under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to administer vaccines inside those facilities.
21,450 doses of vaccine will go directly to the Florida Department of Health. Florida will use strike teams from Health, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and the Florida National Guard to go into long-term care facilities and administer the vaccine in areas with a high concentration of facilities.