Orange County

Medical workers, nursing home residents first in line for vaccines in Florida, governor says

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he expects the coronavirus vaccine to arrive in Florida just a few days after FDA approval.

Florida will receive 180,000 doses of the first round of the Pfizer rollout.

DeSantis said he has already mobilized the National Guard to administer the vaccine for counties that may not be ready yet.

READ: Florida reports nearly 9,600 new COVID-19 cases, 89 virus-related deaths

The shipment will be split.

The governor said 100,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine will be sent to hospitals like AdventHealth, and will go to medical personnel most in contact with COVID-19 patients.

About 80,000 vaccines will be shipped to CVS and Walgreens for nursing homes.

READ: Curious when you’ll be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine? This tool will estimate your place in line

On Wednesday, Channel 9 spoke with officials at a nursing home about what they know regarding the plan to vaccinate residents.

They said they had a webinar with CVS so they knew what to expect, and were told they will get notice 10 days ahead of time letting them know when CVS clinicians will be sent to their nursing home.

A room will be dedicated to vaccinations, while those residents who can’t leave their room will have someone administer it bedside.

READ: Florida lawyer resigns appointed post after raid of data scientist’s home; calls Gov’s handling of coronavirus pandemic ‘reckless’

Consent forms must be signed, and the facilities will have to let CVS officials know just how many residents will get the vaccine. Because of Pfizer’s storage requirements at 70 degrees below 0, CVS would like to only bring what is needed.

The FDA meets on Thursday. For information on how to watch the meeting, click here.

Shannon Butler

Shannon Butler, WFTV.com

Shannon joined the Eyewitness News team in 2013.

Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.