Florida ramping up COVID-19 vaccination efforts as more doses become available

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TAMPA, Fla. - In one week, four federally-run vaccination sites are set to open across Florida, including one at Tampa’s old greyhound racetrack. As those sites, among others, appear throughout the state, the big question is: Who’s in the next priority group?

For weeks, Governor Ron DeSantis has rejected CDC guidance and pushed ahead with the "seniors first" goal of vaccination as many Floridians as possible who are 65 and older. Now, he said those Federal Emergency Management Agency-supported sites would use some doses to vaccinate certain teachers and law enforcement officers.

"We want that to be open not just to seniors but to sworn law enforcement and classroom teachers," he said Tuesday, "and so we’ll start probably 50 and up."
DeSantis didn’t say when the next phase of vaccines could be made available to teachers, police officers, and firefighters who are 50 and up.

The state announced Tuesday there doesn’t appear to be any more weather delays for vaccine shipments. With that said, Publix announced it was back on track after supply chain issues caused by last week’s winter storms.

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On Wednesday morning, more COVID-19 vaccine appointments become available. Those interested can only book an appointment through the store’s website. Publix also suggests looking at neighboring counties if the locations closest to you have already booked up.

Another major retailer will join the vaccination efforts this week as well. Appointments will also be available at select CVS Pharmacy sites across the state, primarily those in Miami-Dade County.

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For now, there are four participating locations in the Bay Area: two in Polk County, one in Hillsborough County, and one in Manatee County.

State officials said as more vaccine doses come in, they plan to distribute that to more locations. No specific sign-up dates were given, but CVS said appointments will become available later this week. Patients must pre-register at CVS.com, through the CVS Pharmacy app, or by calling the CVS customer service line at 1-800-746-7287.

For now, appointments are available only for front-line medical workers and those who are 65 and older, but that could soon change.

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When it comes to the federal vaccination sites, Desantis said he wants those to be available to certain people outside the current priority groups.

The unions representing the state’s police officers and teachers both said Tuesday the governor’s announcement is welcome news but does not go far enough. Both said the program needs to be quickly expanded to include all members of those professions, not just those 50 and older. At least 37 Florida educators and 27 law enforcement officers have died of COVID-19, according to the unions.

"It’s a start," said Bobby Jenkins, president of the Florida Fraternal Order of Police, about the governor’s announcement. He said police officers are highly vulnerable to the disease "because we can’t always cover up or social distance."

He said police officers also tend to be younger, so limiting the vaccine to those 50 and over won’t have a huge effect overall.

Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, said all teachers and staff, regardless of age, are at high risk and should be vaccinated as soon as possible, particularly those with health issues such as diabetes and asthma.

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There about 200,000 public school teachers and 100,000 support staff statewide and almost all of them are working on campus. The state also has more than 40,000 private school teachers and staff.

"The good news is that the governor is finally starting to listen to...what the medical and scientific community is saying — educators should be a priority," Spar said. "I still think he’s approaching it (vaccinations) incorrectly....The reality is that this virus attacks people who are at high risk and age is not the only risk."

Earlier this month, the governor mentioned expanding access to the vaccine once the state had vaccinated around 2.5 million seniors.

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Yesterday, the governor said at least 50 percent of the state’s 4 million residents who are 65 or older have been vaccinated, which is why Florida can soon start inoculating other groups.

The federal site in Tampa will vaccinate 2,000 people per day, seven days a week. It opens March 3. The other three locations will be in Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville.

The sites are:

Tampa Greyhound Track: 755 E. Waters Ave.Tampa, FL, 33604
Valencia College – West Campus: 1800 S. Kirkman Road Orlando, FL, 32811
Gateway Mall: 5200 Norwood Ave Jacksonville, FL, 32208
Miami Dade Community College (North Campus): 11380 NW 27th Ave. Miami, FL, 33167

These are separate sites from the existing state- and county-run vaccine sites, but will utilize the current myvaccine.fl.gov preregistration system to schedule appointments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report