Florida announces COVID-19 vaccine plan
Residents and staff of long term care facilities, front line health workers and first responders are the first groups who will receive the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available, according to Florida’s draft vaccination plan made public late Friday.
The states had to file their plans to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Oct. 16, based on a playbook created by the agency.
Florida Department of Health’s 51-page draft plan is divided into 15 sections that cover a phased approach to vaccination, provider recruitment and enrollment, allocation, storage and safety monitoring.
In a call with reporters on Thursday, Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious disease sat CDC, said all jurisdictions had submitted their initial vaccine program plans and they are being reviewed.
“It’ s important to recognize that these plans are flexible because things may change as we learn more about which vaccines become available, in what amounts and when,” Butler said.
Six vaccines are currently in the final phases of clinical trials, and at least one is expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration before the end of the year.
“We’ re cautious ly optimistic that vaccines will be available, although likely in limited quantities before the end of 2020,” Butler said.
Because of the limited supply, vaccinations will first focus on high-risk populations.
“... By the end of January, we expect to have enough to vaccinate all seniors as well as our health-careworkers and first responders, and by the end of March to early April, enough vaccine for all Americans who would want to take a vaccine,” said Alex Azar, secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, during the press call.
Florida’ s health department has created a COVID - 19 vaccination planning work group, and each county health department has created its own incident management team focused on local implementation of the state’s vaccines trategy.
Each county health department will have to conduct a vaccine administrationexercise by Dec .1, according to the draft plan.
The dissemination of the COVID-19 vaccine poses challenges for the states, which have to take into consideration available resources, storage capabilities—some of the vaccine sin the works require below zero storage and most are given in two doses— staff availability, population needs and other logistical hurdles.
Florida has 1.3 million health-care workers, more than 220,000 long-term care employees and 145,000 long term care residents, than 4 million adults over the age of 65. Nearly 96,000 people are in its correctional facilities. And about 2.8 million people— or13% of its population — is uninsured, according to the draft plan.
So far, more than 776,000 people have been confirmed with COVID-19 in the state and more than 16,000 Floridians have died.
And there are “early warning signs” that COVID-19 cases are tic king up in Florida – in the Villages and several counties, including Brevard, according to a report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel that the White House Corona virus Task Force sends Florida each week. Florida is among more than a dozen states to withhold those reports from thepublic.
The state breaks down its vaccination plan into three phases, starting with the most vulnerable populations, such as those living in long-term care facilities.
During the second phase, when more vaccines are available, it will be distributed to pediatricians, primary care providers and more pharmacies. health departments will start public vaccinations. There may also be a state-managed vaccination site, comparable to what currently exists today for administering COVID-19 tests. Hospitals that choose to may also start vaccinating people in their emergency departments, urgent care centers and other outpatient settings.
During the third and final phase, when enough supply is expected to be available, the state will begin providing the vaccine through routine delivery systems such as commercial pharmacies. County health departments will continue to offer the vaccine and will be open to all members of the public.
More details of the state’s draf tplan:
The health department, which has 67 county health departments, is using a planning structure based on lessons from H 1 N 1 pandemic, seasonal flu and Hepatitis A vaccination programs.
It is coordinating its plans with retail pharmacies and pharmacists to establish clinic sat long-term care facilities for vaccination delivery and eventually the general population.
It is working with correctional and detention facilities, homeless shelters, community organizations, public safety agencies and hospitals to establish vaccination plans.
The state began its provider recruitment efforts on Oct. 5 via Florida SHOTS, its existing statewide immunization registry platform.
The state is determining vaccine administration capacity by surveys sent to hospitals, pharmacies and EMS providers about storage (refrigerated, frozen and ultra-cold) capacity and vaccination.
It is developing awebsite with resources and links for providers.
Providers will be given a phone number to report severe adverse reactions to the vaccine. The health department is also establishing an agreement with the Florida Poison Information Center Network as a centralized call center for Adverse Event Reporting.
The health department is planning to increase awareness about the vaccine via social media, YouTube and a dedicated website, press releases. The dissemination of information to the public will increase when the vaccine becomes more widely available.
Health officials continue to urge the public to practice caution to help control the pandemic, as more than 8.5 million Americans have been infected with the virus and more than 220,000 have died because of it.
“Wash your hands, watch your distance and wear your face coverings when you can’t watch your distance, and avoid settings where you can’ t do those things ,” said Dr. Robert Red field, CDCdirector during the press call.
To sign up for a vaccine trial, visit corona virus. or ga nd for drug trials, visitriseabovecovid.org.