Surgeon general: Vaccines for state residents
Florida’s surgeon general issued a warning Thursday that all COVID-19 vaccines in the state should go only to residents — including snowbirds — or visiting healthcare providers here to work on the front lines.
The health advisory, filed just before 3 p.m., comes a day after Seminole, Brevard and Volusia counties announced they were cutting off first-dose vaccinations to so-called “vaccine tourists” coming to Florida specifically for the inoculation.
Since Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opened vaccine sites to anyone 65 and over, health officials have been inundated with requests for vaccination appointments. Many residents, including some health workers, have complained that out-of-state and foreign visitors were competing with Floridians for limited doses.
By Thursday morning, more than 1.3 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine had been administered in the state, yet demand from frustrated seniors 65 and older remained high.
In his public health advisory, surgeon general Dr. Scott Rivkees noted the vaccine remains scarce in the United States and “extremely limited” in Florida.
His order calls for every vaccine provider in Florida to ensure recipients are residents or front-line healthcare workers before giving an initial dose. Brevard County
health officials said anyone who has already received a first dose there would get the second one as scheduled.
Officials in Orange County did not immediately know how quickly the surgeon general’s order could be implemented.
Under the new rules, residents will need to provide a valid Florida driver license or Florida identification card; a deed, mortgage, monthly mortgage statement, mortgage payment booklet or residential rental or lease agreement; a statement from a relative, legal guardian or other Florida resident with whom the person is living, as well as that person’s proof of residency; a utility bill or utility hookup work order; mail from a financial institution; or mail from a federal, state, county or municipal government agency.