Brevard County

Brevard County is partnering with local hospitals to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — On Monday, the Florida Department of Health in Viera booked appointments for 1,500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. It took just 11 minutes for those appointments to be filled, and the FDOH-Viera will begin administering those doses on Tuesday.

The county may also begin working with three hospital systems to provide easier access to the vaccine in other parts of the county.

County commissioners will consider the proposal during their council meeting on Tuesday.

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On Monday, FDOH-Viera provided doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to front-line health care workers.

“I’ve always been pro-vaccine and its miraculous this one came out as quickly as it did and we have the opportunity to get it,” said one dentist, Dr. Alejandro Martinez.

Martinez and dental assistant William Purdy said taking the vaccine is really about protecting patients.

“A lot of our patient base is elderly folks so it kinds of takes us out of the equations as being a nexus for transmission.” Purdy said.

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In Brevard County, so far, more than 27,000 people have received a COVID-19 vaccination. The Florida Department of Health in Brevard has administered more than 12,600 of those doses.

“We’ve partnered with the hospital systems Health First, Parrish Medical, and Steward Hospital to expand our operations into more northern, southern and central parts of the county,” said Director of Brevard County Communications, Don Walker. “It would give us the opportunity to triple the amount of doses currently providing per week.”

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Brevard County Commissioners will be asked to approve this plan on Tuesday.

This, of course, is contingent upon getting additional doses from the state, which is currently partnering with Publix, an organization that is providing COVID-19 vaccinations to high-priority groups at 22 Publix grocery stores in Brevard County .

The Florida Division Emergency Management is also working to implement a statewide appointment system for COVID-19 vaccinations that should be ready within weeks. Brevard County wants to be in the best position to administer those shots.

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“We’re hoping by demonstrating that we’re ready and willing and able to make that happen the governor will realize Brevard County is a good place to send more vaccine to, in order to get more shots in arms quicker,” Walker said.