DeSantis Government will lower the vaccination age to 60 next week

TALLAHASSEE, FLa. Florida government Ron DeSantis announced Monday that the state will lower the age for people to get a COVID-19 vaccine from 65 to 60 next year.

“It will apply across the board to all state pools, all the pharmacies, all the different drives that are operated,” DeSantis said. “If you’m older than 60, you can sign up and get the vaccine.”

The age change takes effect on March 15.

The governor hinted that it would take place at some point in March, saying the age requirement would drop as the number of vaccinations and supplies continues to rise, with each five-year-old age group adding about 2 million people in Florida to those who choose to to get a chance.

The change comes as the demand for the elderly decreases and federal vaccination sites across the country continue to see a low turnout of qualifying people.

‘I do think it’s the right time to do it. We are starting to see the demand soften, ”said DeSantis.

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The new federal website in Jacksonville and the two satellite sites have had the capacity to vaccinate more than 15,000 people since opening Wednesday – the same day school staff, firefighters and law enforcement officers 50 years and older, as well as people considered. “Medically vulnerable,” shots could be fired at federal sites in Florida. But from day one to Sunday, the federal website at Gateway Mall and the two satellite sites administered only nearly 6,000 doses, averaging less than 1,200 per day out of the 3,000 doses per day allocated.

DeSantis also said the increased supply also makes it easier to get appointments for a vaccine at grocery stores and pharmacies.

“Hopefully we get another delivery from the Johnson & Johnson next week, and I expect what we’re just about to disappear, probably within the next few days,” DeSantis said. “It looks pretty popular.”

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With the rough outline of how the vaccine will be vaccinated going forward, DeSantis has again chosen to break with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

The CDC recommends that essential front-line workers, such as grocery stores, manufacturers and public transport workers, be one of the first groups to receive the vaccine in phase 1b. In Phase 1c, the CDC says, people between the ages of 65 and 74, as well as other essential workers, such as those in the food service industry and others with large numbers of people, need to be vaccinated to limit the spread of the community.

Health officials say people like grocery stores need to be vaccinated because they come into contact with the elderly and other vulnerable people every day.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said the state saw “chaos, confusion, frustration” and a “lack of clarity” during the vaccine’s explosion.

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Fried told a news conference on Monday that the state’s age development is not the best path.

“Once you lower it to 70 with 75 and above, you catch too many people with not enough vaccines,” Fried said. ‘I think the approach of the age of the world really takes all the different people who are on the move and who have to work to get our economy going, and to get our children into schools, out of the conversation. get ourselves fed. ”

Fried asked that DeSantis expand the paperwork required for when someone tries to prove he is medically vulnerable to getting a vaccine.

‘People have medical bills, they have other prescription drugs that they need to be able to visit, show that they are medically vulnerable, and can not go to a doctor that they may not have, or to get a form that they can extra It costs dollars to get these vaccines, ”Fried said.

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