JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — People under 65 who are medically vulnerable say they continue struggling to access the COVID-19 vaccine, despite being eligible.
Under Florida’s executive order, hospitals can vaccinate people deemed “extremely vulnerable” to COVID-19.
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Florida said it received more vaccines this week than it was anticipating, which freed up additional doses to give to the hospitals.
Action News Jax told you nearly 29,000 doses were sent this week to select hospitals in Florida, including three in Jacksonville, with strong encouragement to use for medically vulnerable people under 65.
Mayo Clinic told Action News Jax appointments for the 1,000 doses it received are already booked.
In a one-on-one interview with Jared Moskowitz, Director of Emergency Management for the State of Florida, Action News Jax asked if the state plans to send doses to hospitals for people with comorbidities on a more regular basis.
“We have to continue to obviously put doses in the hospitals for people that are extremely vulnerable,” Moskowitz said. “Hospitals are right now the only providers that can do that, so I think you’ll see similar decisions there.”
Moskowitz said the biggest burden is the lack of supply.
“Supply continues to be the issue, can’t solve all problems at once because we don’t have the doses,” Moskowitz said.
Florida said it’s expecting to receive 320,000 from the federal government for next week, which is a slight increase from the 307,000 it received this week.
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The state said on every Thursday, it enters where it plans to distribute vaccines into a database and that information is released to each county Friday morning.
Action News Jax will follow up with the state to learn if any vaccines will go to hospitals for medically vulnerable people under 65.
Cox Media Group
