ORLANDO, Fla. — The daily COVID-19 vaccine numbers released by Florida don’t give a clear picture of where the state is headed in the future.
Florida has received additional vaccine supply from the federal government, but hasn’t administered what the state already has.
Florida is doing better than many other states, but it’s not the best. Part of the reason may be because part of the supply hasn’t been in the right places.
Watch: Herd immunity may not arrive until after summer, Orange County officials said
“I want to be very clear on one important point. Hospitals that do not do a good job of getting the vaccine out will have their allocations transferred,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis in a video posted online Saturday.
Some hospital CEOs had already warned patient loads could make it tough to handle their allotments.
And with cases now averaging nearly 16,500 a day, Florida has seen evidence of the strain.
AdventHealth moved to code yellow on Monday, then two days later, code red.
Meanwhile, some county health departments had the staff but not the doses.
Read: Florida has nearly half the known U.S. cases of COVID-19 variant, CDC says
In Volusia County, officials said they could’ve administered 3.5 times more doses at Daytona Beach Stadium than they were given.
The data does show things are improving, however.
“We’ve been averaging more than 40,000 shots per day,” DeSantis said.
This week, there’s been a steep uptick in vaccinations among all age groups, but especially for those aged 65 and up.
Some things set in motion this week could help build on that.
Watch: Florida’s elderly struggle to find COVID-19 vaccines as nonresidents fly in for open shots
A pilot partnership with Publix will result in 15,000 doses being administered from their pharmacies.
Church sites are expected to help underserved communities.
“I’m finding that teaming with the pastor’s folks on the ground people that they trust, that this is proving to be a very trusted gateway into the minority community,” said Florida Director of Emergency Management, Jared Moskowitz.
A gateway is needed, as the CDC shows 255,000 more first doses, and 128,000 second doses are headed our way next week.
DeSantis plans to hold a news conference Sunday morning at Lynn Haven Senior Center in Bay County.
Watch Channel 9 Eyewitness News for continuing coverage.
Cox Media Group
