Mayors Of Broward & Miami-Dade Say COVID Vaccine Rollout Could Be Ramped Up If Doses Were There
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The mayors of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties say they would be able to administer many more COVID vaccines if they were provided with more doses.
This comes as the White House says Florida has only administered half of the doses they received.
For the past month, the saga of being vaccinated in South Florida has been defined by long lines and appointments filled in a matter of minutes.
"If we were getting more vaccines, we could double or triple the amount of shots we put in arms," says Broward Mayor Steve Geller.
He says the main issue is not having enough doses to meet high demand.
In a county with about 340,000 seniors, he says it's going to be a slow rollout at this rate.
"Broward County can provide the logistics for 40,0000 to 50,000 doses per week, if we get them," he explains. "If we are only getting a third of that, you know, I can't create vaccines."
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava echoed similar feelings in a tweet:
"Miami-Dade is prepared to rapidly ramp up vaccine distribution to meet the enormous demand from our community. Our county remains the epicenter of the pandemic in FL and we must get shots in the arms of those who need it most. We are ready— we just need the vaccines."
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The federal government gives the vaccine to the states, and the states are responsible for distribution. The counties are responsible for the infrastructure of the vaccination sites.
In a press conference in Washington, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Florida specifically.
"They've only distributed about 50 percent of the vaccines in Florida," she said. So clearly, they have a good deal of the vaccine. That supply will need to increase as they are able to effectively reach people across the state."
Speaking Monday in Jacksonville, Gov. Ron DeSantis says they are at the mercy of what the federal government gives them.
He also points out they have been successful in meeting the needs of long term care facilities.
"By the end of this month a COVID-19 vaccine will been offered to every resident, staff member, in all of Florida's nearly 4,000 long term care facilities," DeSantis says. "Which is really, really good."
Mayor Geller says their para-transit system will begin transporting homebound residents either this week or next week. Those who are already registered for transportation with the county will receive a notification.