ORLANDO, Fla. — Residents and staff at long-term care facilities, as well as healthcare workers, will be the first to get vaccinated in Florida.
Governor Ron DeSantis said Thursday the state will receive close to 180,000 doses next week.
READ: FDA authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine
Florida will receive 179,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine & we are prioritizing our most vulnerable residents & high-exposure health care personnel to receive the vaccine first. We are also mobilizing strike teams to supplement vaccination of long-term care residents. pic.twitter.com/wmBcE4pGD1
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 10, 2020
Administrators at one care facility in Orlando say they’re ready to roll out the vaccine.
Beggs Pointe Assisted Living houses 12 residents, most of whom will be receiving the vaccine.
“Almost everyone said...they wanted their family to get it,” Manager Elden Santos says.
98-year-old resident Eunice Cook is one of them. Her daughter Peggy Nash has decided she’ll get the vaccine when it’s available.
Santos says the distribution process has already started at Beggs. He says he received an email from the state all the way back in October telling him to choose a pharmacy to administer the vaccine- Walmart or CVS.
READ: Florida reports the most COVID-19 cases since July for second day in a row
Santos says he chose CVS. Next, they’ll send consent forms 10 days before their staff would arrive at Beggs to start setting up for the vaccinations.
“Sort of like a mini-clinic setup in here,” Santos says. “And then the residents will come and get their shots.”
Today, FDA issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a vaccine for the prevention of #COVID19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 16 years of age and older. The emergency use authorization allows the vaccine to be distributed in the U.S. https://t.co/1Vu0xQqmCB pic.twitter.com/c8maeePP9O
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) December 12, 2020
Santos says his seven workers can choose to get vaccinated as well.
“We had one staff member kind of on the fence about it,” he says. “You’re not going to get COVID by getting the COVID vaccine, unlike other vaccines in the past.”
Nash says she knows that, and is encouraged by the Pfizer vaccine’s reported 95% effective rate- regardless of age, race, or pre-existing medical conditions.
Nash says she’s also encouraged that no major widespread side effects have been reported so far.
“I’ve got to pray that I’m making the right decision for her, and that’s all that I can do.”
The FDA is scheduled to hold a press conference on the first #COVID19 vaccine authorization on Saturday at 9 a.m. EST. FDA Commissioner @SteveFDA and @FDACBER Director Dr. Peter Marks will be taking questions. Watch the live stream here on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/gzOYrWBzOg
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) December 12, 2020
Cox Media Group
