More Johnson & Johnson doses arrive in Florida.
Florida has received an unexpected delivery of 42,000 doses of the singledose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, boosting the state’s immunization efforts, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.
The shots will be used to vaccinate homebound seniors and supply walk-up vaccine clinics, such as one held at an African American church in Pensacola.
Officials are closely monitoring supply and demand and hope to open up eligibility to all adults well before President Joe Biden’s target date of May 1, DeSantis said at a news conference in Pensacola.
“We’re going to get to a point where this is just going to be available to everyone,” DeSantis said. “I think that is going to happen relatively soon.”
The state initially did not expect to receive additional Johnson & Johnson shots this week because of supply shortages, DeSantis said.
Under Florida’s eligibility guidelines, the vaccine is available to people 50 and older, front-line health care workers and people who have a doctor’s note showing they are vulnerable to the virus.
The initial shipment of 175,000 Johnson & Johnson shots has proved popular, DeSantis said.
President Joe Biden has announced the United States will order another 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson.
A Johnson & Johnson spokesperson said despite
temporary delays in shipments, the company expects to deliver 20 million doses nationwide by the end of March. In addition, the company plans to deliver 100 million single-shot vaccines to the U.S. during the first half of 2021.
As of Monday, Florida has received 7.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and about 2.7 million people have been fully vaccinated.