Florida increases access to vaccines for teachers, first responders 50 and older

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Government Ron DeSantis signed an executive order extending COVID-19 vaccine admission requirements in the state of Florida to include law enforcement officers 50 and older, firefighters 50 and older and K-12 school staff 50 close.

The governor announced the executive order at a news conference in Tallahassee on Monday.

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The governor attributed the extension to the FDA – approved Emergency Use Authorization of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.

“We do not know exactly how many, but for now the numbers we sent Johnson and Johnson to Florida this week are now 175,000 doses that have not been confirmed yet, but we hope it will be very fast,” said DeSantis.

Read the new executive order here.

The governor said he believes all the people who fall into this extended qualification could possibly be vaccinated with the initial dispatch of the J&J vaccine.

“We can probably do all those 50 K-12 staff members and police, just with our J&J consignment,” DeSantis said.

However, he stopped saying that the consignment would be assigned specifically for it.

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

Wendy Doromal, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, said she appreciated the new guidelines that include more teachers, but said she believes all teachers should be vaccinated.

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

This new expansion comes after DeSantis signed another executive order on Friday, increasing vaccine admissions to people who see hospitals and doctors as “extremely vulnerable to COVID-19”.

“This is a major extension of access to the covid vaccine for medically vulnerable people under 65,” said Orlando State Representative Carlos Guillermo-Smith. “If you are medically vulnerable to COVID, younger than 65 with a doctor’s letter, you can get the vaccine.”

Infectious Disease Specialist, dr. Franc Cadet, of the Orange Blossom Family in Orlando, said he had not received any guidance from the state on guidelines for vaccinating people considered extremely vulnerable.

‘Is it one chronic condition, is it multiple chronic conditions, is it just a doctor’s letter saying I have one chronic condition of hypertension? I need the vaccine. That is what I am concerned about, ”said Cadet. “We definitely need more information, more guidance when it comes to people with chronic conditions.”

BIG! Late Friday, @GovRonDeSantis signed an EO extension of COVID vaccine access for medically vulnerable younger than 65 people from hospitals to now include doctor’s offices and pharmacies. We insisted on this! This means that a risk under 65 can be vaccinated @Publix & @Walmart! pic.twitter.com/uHV37FSK5Z

– Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) 28 February 2021

Cadet said he appreciates the pressure to get more people vaccinated, but he fears elderly people who want the vaccine will miss out.

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

The announcement of the executive order came after the governor and several state legislators announced plans for legislation targeting China and other foreign governments that could potentially attempt to steal intellectual property from businesses and research institutions in Florida.

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

These bills will be discussed during the 2021 legislative session that began Monday in Tallahassee.

The Orange County Health Officer, Dr. Raul Pino, describes the process of vaccinating the new group.

“We need to verify the age, we need to verify the home, and now we need to verify if they are a firefighter if they are law enforcement and they are employed at the school,” Pino said.

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

‘We planned for this activity to take place. “Part of our planning was to do an afternoon-evening event, and we’ll launch an afternoon event next week for people 50 or older who meet the requirements,” Harris said.

Scott Howat with OCPS shared how many new school staff are eligible to get a vaccine in the district

“So 9,542 will be eligible,” Howat said.

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