State vaccine strategy changes as DeSantis says doses being reserved for second shots

In a reversal, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that the state is now withholding COVID-19 vaccines to ensure seniors and healthcare workers can get their second doses.

As hundreds of thousands of Floridians approach the 28-day deadline this week to receive their second Moderna vaccine dose, DeSantis guaranteed there would be enough supply to meet the demand.

“We’re not going to divert second doses away from seniors,” DeSantis said. “Seniors want it. We’re going to do it. So, if the implication is you should be giving those doses away to other people, that’s not the way the FDA has prescribed it.”

The announcement, briefly mentioned during a news conference in Vero Beach, was in response to a statement from President Joe Biden’s press secretary that Florida had used only half of the COVID-19 vaccines from the federal government.

DeSantis, bristling at the implication that the state wasn’t administering doses fast enough, said Tuesday that it was keeping supply on hand for second doses.

“We are going to have second doses for senior citizens, and if the White House is suggesting we shouldn’t be doing that, I think that that’s not a good suggestion,” DeSantis said Tuesday.

DeSantis said the state had received 1.7 million “first doses” of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday.

But there is no difference between first and second doses. Although the federal government controls the allocation of the vaccine to each state, the state controls how much is distributed to hospitals and other vendors administering it. Because this information is not released publicly, only state officials know who is getting what supply and when.

Amid uncertainty about Florida’s weekly allotment from the federal government, hospitals and other groups were concerned about having enough vaccine on hand to guarantee people could receive their second shot. A second dose is considered necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine.