Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Florida surgeon general vows improvements in shot rollout
Faced with complaints about Florida’s maddening system for distributing COVID vaccines, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees on Wednesday promised improvements but said many Floridians will be in for a long wait.
In his first testimony in the state Legislature since the beginning of the COVID crisis, Rivkees and his top deputy addressed the vaccine shortage, how soon teachers will get it and whether tourists are taking advantage of Florida’s loose laws.
They avoided direct answers to some questions, such as how long it will take to vaccinate seniors and why teachers can’t be moved up on the list. And they heard the frustration of senators who have been fielding calls from constituents angry about the crashed websites, long lines and perceptions of line-jumping by the well-connected, such as members of hospital boards.
“Look at the reports showing well-connected people and donors have been able to skip the line,” said Sen. Shevrin Jones, a south Broward Democrat, at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health Policy. “If we would have put a plan together, couldn’t we have avoided that?”
Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernadina Beach, described “great frustration in the entire state” over vaccine distribution and criticized a lack of communication from the health department.
“We know there is a shortage,” he said. “People can handle that if it is communicated. There hasn’t been any communication. People are frustrated. No one likes a skipper. If there is an orderly process and it’s communicated well, I can wait my turn. When you leave here, take away that there is great frustration with the lack of information and rules that appear as if they are not followed.”
The state is currently experiencing a race between vaccination efforts and a resurgence of the virus.
Florida reported 13,990 new cases Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 1.5 million. The death toll is nearly 24,000.
Meanwhile, vaccination efforts continue at hospitals, assisted-living facilities and other sites. Under an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis, anyone 65 or older can get a shot, and in Florida that means about 4.5 million people.
The state has acquired only a fraction of the vaccines for that group, and the state health department’s communications infrastructure suffered collapse after collapse in dealing with the demand. So far in Florida, 646,327 people have received the first dose and 61,151 have received both doses.
Both Rivkees and his deputy, Dr. Shamarial Roberson, said a statewide website to register for a vaccine is in the works.
“We are piloting it now and hope to have it available in the coming weeks,” Roberson said. Rivkees promised to give senators additional updates as his agency “gets closer to the finish line. “
As senators pressed Rivkees for a timeline, the surgeon general said the distribution will be completely dependent on additional manufacturers getting emergency authorization for vaccines now in phase 3 clinical trials.
At this time, Florida is getting about 800,000 to a million doses a month of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
With 22 million people in the state, the rollout would take 22 months at the current rate, Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Bartow, pointed out. Only about 400,000 of 4.5 million seniors have been vaccinated with the first dose.
“We are in a supply-limited situation and hopefully as more vaccines become available and other manufacturers get approval, we can move beyond this group,” Rivkees said.
Rivkees emphasized the health department workers are overburdened and seniors need to be patient.
“We are on day 313 of this pandemic and some individuals have not had a day off,” he said. “It’s going to take a while. How do you convey patience during a pandemic? It’s a difficult conversation to have. As soon as the vaccine gets to Florida, we will get it to individuals in need. This vaccine is our ray of hope, our path forward out of the pandemic.”
Sen. Gary Farmer, a Broward lawyer who serves as Senate Democratic leader, asked Rivkees why teachers would not be a high priority for vaccination in Florida.
Rivkees said the 4.5 million seniors get priority and could take a while to reach.
“If there is a teacher or educator who is 65 or older or have a serious underlying medical condition those individuals can absolutely get vaccinated,” Rivkees said. “When we look in state 85% who passed away are 65 years of age or older ... We are on a supply limited situation, hopefully as other manufacturers begin to get approval we will move beyond this group.”
Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, asked about “vaccine tourism” to Florida by people who couldn’t get the injections at home.
Roberson responded, “The federal government has advised that this is a federal asset so people can come from other states, but I’m happy to report with the numbers that I’m giving you that more than 96% of the persons who have received this vaccine in Florida are Florida residents.”
She did not address the widely reported claims that seniors from Argentina, Canada and other countries were taking advantage of Florida’s loose rules to obtain vaccines available only to limited groups in their own countries. The state’s figures show that 27,651 people from out of state have received the vaccine in Florida, but it does not say where they came from or how many came from outside the United States.
Talking with reporters after the hearing, Rivkees said he expected the number of available vaccines to rise and allow Florida to start returning to normal life.
“It truly is a ray of hope because this is our path out of the pandemic,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question that we’re going to see a substantial increase in terms of vaccine availability.”