TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pleaded for the patience of anxious elderly people who were waiting for their turn to be vaccinated against COVID-19, while confusion and frustration arose over the availability of the life-saving vaccine among some most vulnerable.
At vaccination sites across the state, the elderly formed long lines – some camped overnight with loungers and blankets – in hopes of gaining immunity to fight the virus. Even before the sun rose on Wednesday morning, the supply of vaccine for a southwest Florida county day had already been counted, prompting authorities to refuse anyone else who arrived.
Seniors in other parts of the state were frustrated with busy phone lines and websites that no longer issued new vaccination appointments.
DeSantis has prioritized Florida residents over 65 to be next in line for the state’s vaccine stock, now that most health workers and other first responders are protected from the virus that has infected more than 1.2 million people. Florida residents.
On Wednesday, health officials reported 13,871 new cases and 139 new deaths, increasing the death toll to 21,857.
More than 82% of those who died of the disease were over 65, underscoring the urgency of aging Florida residents, the governor said on Wednesday.
“The supply of the COVID-19 vaccine is still limited. We don’t have enough vaccine currently available for all of the more than 4 million seniors in the state of Florida, ”said the governor during a news conference in Delray Beach. “We will get there, but it will not happen overnight. So, please be patient. “
Amid uncertainty about how quickly the state can purchase more doses of the two vaccines now available, county health departments and hospitals across the state are struggling to deliver the vaccine to the elderly.
Lin Humphrey, a university professor whose 81-year-old mother lives with him in a skyscraper in Miami, said he took about 80 calls to get someone on the phone at a Miami Beach hospital that started vaccinating seniors last week on doses vaccines.
“It reminded me of the ’80s, when you had to call a radio station to be the tenth call to get concert tickets,” said Humphrey. “When I finally got it, I cried on the phone with the woman.”
Early Wednesday morning, health officials in Lee County, where Fort Myers is located, announced that all three vaccination sites had reached capacity on their third day of providing injections to residents age 65 and older. People lined up outside a library, recreation center and theater to snatch one of the few hundred doses available after health officials said it was not necessary to make an appointment as they would be administered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Orlando Sentinel reported that state health officials in Orange County closed their online portal on Tuesday after generating 30,000 consultations in about 24 hours. And Broward Health’s hospital chain said it would stop scheduling vaccine appointments the same day they started “due to the huge demand from the community.”
Abdulla Benkhatar, 90, was at the front of the line Tuesday morning at a recreation center in Fort Myers.
“We have been at home for almost 10 months. It is very important for me, for my health and to be able to do the things I like and get back to normal, ”he told WZVN-TV.
On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health said it administered doses to about 175,465 in the state, most of them health care workers, first responders and assisted care facility residents.
Some elderly people started receiving vaccines on Monday in the first eight counties that received their vaccines last week. The other 59 counties in the state are expected to begin receiving their share of vaccines soon.
In Miami, the Jackson Health System started administering vaccines to people aged 65 and over who are receiving care on the network. Music producer Emilio Estefan, 67, and Miami Dolphins senior vice president, Nat Moore, 69, received the first dose of the vaccine on Wednesday in front of reporters at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Jackson Health said it would launch an online platform next week for residents to make appointments to make the injection.
Municipalities and hospitals have adopted different approaches on how to administer the vaccine, leading to confusion, frustration and queues.
“They will solve the problems, as they have done,” said the governor. “If you are 65 or older, you will have access to this. It may not be for everyone today, it may not be next week. But in the coming weeks, as long as we continue to receive the supply, you will have the opportunity to obtain it. “
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said she wrote to DeSantis recommending that he mobilize the Florida National Guard to distribute the COVID-19 vaccines, arguing that the launch was too slow.
“Although the state receives 1,218,300 doses of vaccine, only 15% of them were actually administered,” she said in the letter. “The lack of preparation and progress in administering these essential, life-saving vaccines is inexcusable.”
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Gomez Licon reported from Miami.