Florida expands access to vaccine for teachers, first responders aged 50 and over

Florida expands access to vaccine for teachers, first responders aged 50 and over

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TALLAHASSEE, Florida. – Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order expanding the eligibility requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine across the state of Florida to include police officers aged 50 and over, firefighters aged 50 and over, and K-12 school officials aged 50 years or more.

The governor announced the executive order during a press conference in Tallahassee on Monday.

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The governor credited the expansion to the Emergency Use Authorization for the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, which was approved by the FDA on Sunday.

“We don’t know exactly how much, but provisionally, the numbers we are looking at for Johnson and Johnson’s shipment to Florida this week are 175,000 doses that have not yet been confirmed, but we hope it will be very soon,” DeSantis said.

Read the new executive order here.

The governor said he believed that all people who fit this expanded eligibility could be vaccinated with the initial shipment of the J&J vaccine.

“We could probably do all that 50 up K-12 personnel and police, fire, just with our J&J shipment,” said DeSantis.

However, he did not go so far as to say that the consignment would be allocated specifically for that purpose.

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“There is an argument that J&J may even be better for some people, but at the very least, what I would say is that if you have the opportunity to do J&J, do J&J,” said DeSantis.

Wendy Doromal, president of the Orange County Classroom Teacher’s Association, said she appreciates the new guidelines that include more teachers, but says she believes that all teachers should be vaccinated.

“Of course we appreciate every step, baby steps are good, but we need a giant step here,” said Doromal.

This new expansion comes after DeSantis signed another executive order on Friday, expanding the vaccine’s eligibility to include people that hospitals and doctors consider “extremely vulnerable to COVID-19”.

“This is a huge expansion of access to the coveted vaccine for clinically vulnerable people under the age of 65,” said state deputy Carlos Guillermo-Smith of Orlando. “If you are clinically vulnerable to COVID, under the age of 65 with a medical certificate, you are eligible to receive the vaccine.”

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Infectious disease specialist Dr. Franc Cadet of the Orange Blossom Family in Orlando said he had received no guidance from the state on guidelines for vaccinating people considered to be extremely vulnerable.

“It is a chronic condition, there are several chronic conditions, it is just a medical certificate saying that I have a chronic condition of hypertension that I need the vaccine. That’s what I’m concerned with, ”said Cadet. “We definitely need more information and guidance when it comes to people with chronic illnesses.”

Cadet said he appreciates the pressure to vaccinate more people, but fears that the elderly who want the vaccine may lose.

“I am concerned about the elderly who may be left out, the rest of the elderly aged 65 and over,” said Cadet.

The executive order’s announcement came after the governor and several state lawmakers announced plans for legislation targeting China and other foreign governments that may attempt to steal intellectual property from Florida-based companies and research institutes.

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“The Chinese Communist Party has made it a mission of its global expansion to be able to steal intellectual property from our companies, our government and our academic institutions,” said DeSantis.

These projects will be debated during the 2021 legislative session, which began on Monday in Tallahassee.

Orange County health officer Dr. Raul Pino described the new group’s vaccination process.

“We have to check the age, we have to check the residence and now we have to check if they are firefighters, if they are police officers and work at the school,” said Pino.

Alan Harris of Seminole County Emergency Management explains how the county is prepared to vaccinate this new group.

“We are planning for this activity to happen. Part of our planning has always been to hold an event in the afternoon at night, so next week we are going to launch some evening events in the afternoon for those individuals who are 50 years old or over and meet the criteria, ”said Harris.

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Scott Howat with OCPS shared how many newly qualified school employees were qualified to receive a vaccine in the district

“Therefore, 9,542 would be eligible,” said Howat.

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