ORLANDO, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health released the form that medically vulnerable people need to have filled out by their doctors to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
An order signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this week enabled licensed physicians, advanced practice registered nurses and pharmacists to vaccinate people “determined by a physician to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.”
But since then there’s been confusion over how people need to prove that they are vulnerable to the virus.
Late Tuesday night, the Florida Department of Health released the form that people need to have filled out by their doctor to prove that they are eligible for the vaccine.
Some people said they were worried that they weren’t going to be able to get the form signed by the doctors in time for their appointments. And, they said, their doctor’s offices have were being flooded with calls from people they already given just regular notes to.
“It’s so frustrating that they’re not informing us of anything,” said Christina Parente, who received a doctor’s note deeming her medically vulnerable.
DeSantis said the state chose not to publish a list of comorbidities that qualify people for the vaccine. Instead, he said, the state is putting the decision in the hands of doctors to decide who they believe qualifies as “extremely vulnerable” to the virus.
People who meet the requirements are now able to get vaccinated at federally run vaccination sites as well as Publix pharmacies.
Publix said they will only require the form for appointments booked Wednesday or later starting on Friday.
Walmart said they’re following the governor’s executive order and will require the form for people who are medically vulnerable.
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine An employee with the McKesson Corporation scans a box of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as she fills an order at their shipping facility in in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine Boxes of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine are shown at the McKesson Corporation in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine Melissa Owens, operations plant manager for the McKesson Corporation, signs the first shipping box of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at the McKesson facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine An employee with the McKesson Corporation scans a box of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as she fills an order at their shipping facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine An employee with the McKesson Corporation checks the packing slip for the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at their shipping facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine An employee with the McKesson Corporation places a packing container of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine into a transport container to forward it to packing at their shipping facility in in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine An employee with the McKesson Corporation checks the packing list for the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as she fills an order at their shipping facility in in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine The first boxes of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine are ceremoniously transported to shipping at the McKesson facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine The first box containing the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine heads down the conveyor to an awaiting transport truck at the McKesson facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Photos: Johnson & Johnson ships millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine The first boxes of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine are loaded into a truck for shipment from the McKesson facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)