Nearly 29K doses of COVID-19 vaccine heading to Florida hospitals for medically vulnerable

Many people are hoping vaccines will slow the death toll.

Florida has been doing that by getting more shots to people 6 and over.

But there are many more medically vulnerable people under 65 years old, and they’ve had a tough time getting the vaccine, even though they’re just as, or even more, at risk.

READ: People with comorbidities struggling to find COVID-19 vaccine

Doses just for that group are coming next week.

Five hospitals in Central Florida are getting doses, but people will have to be patient, as those hospitals figure out who is medically vulnerable and how they’ll get access to the vaccine.

About 28,500 new doses to 26 hospitals are expected to be delivered statewide next week. It’s a response to a pressure campaign of emails, calls and interviews.

READ: First UK coronavirus variant cases found in Central Florida: What you need to know about each new variant

The state had previously cut hospitals — the only place medically vulnerable people could get vaccinated — out of its distribution model. But that has now changed.

The state is strongly encouraging hospitals to use those 28,500 doses to vaccinate that population.

In Central Florida, that includes ORMC, AdventHealth, Holmes Regional, Palm Bay Hospital and Lakeland Regional.

But there’s an issue.

READ: Here’s where new coronavirus variants have been found in Central Florida

“The state has stayed out of the business of defining what they deemed to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo-Smith.

Instead, the state is leaving it up to the hospitals.

Guillermo-Smith, who’s been pushing the state on this issue, thinks Jackson Health’s new framework for South Florida could be a good model.

It includes:

• Renal failure with dialysis
• COPD
• Coronary artery disease with bypass
• Cardiomyopathy
• Congestive heart failure
• Sickle cell disease
• Solid organ transplant

“We need to make sure that those hospitals publish clear guidelines for who is eligible and who is not eligible,” Guillermo-Smith said.

VIDEO: People with comorbidities struggling to find COVID-19 vaccine

Cox Media Group