Confusion Remains Over Florida's COVID Vaccine Supply As Baptist Cancels Appointments
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Confusion remains over whether or not there's a problem with Florida's COVID-19 vaccine supply.
Baptist Health confirmed to CBS4 the state's surgeon general said he doesn't know when additional first doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines will be sent to the state.
CBS4 has tried getting a response from Scott Rivkee's office to elaborate on that, but have not heard back from him or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
To add to the confusion, Sen. Rick Scott tweeted that Florida would receive an additional 300,000 vaccine doses by next week.
"That's incredible news for Florida families," he tweeted.
The governor has only mentioned that residents will soon need to provide proof of residency to get vaccinated.
However, Baptist Health is no longer waiting. The hospital system has canceled all already made appointments for people to get their first dose of the COVID vaccine.
"I was shocked because when I got my confirmation, I got a note that they took 13,000 people on day one and I would've expected that that translated into having 26,000 doses available, two for each appointment they took," said Larry Simon.
Simon is immunocompromised and lives with multiple sclerosis. He had an appointment to get his first dose next Tuesday, January 26th.
"I said to myself, there might even be someone else with a medical need that needs this. And I wanted to make sure I was trying to be fair," he said. "But I picked the 26th and now I realized if I'd have picked some earlier date, I would've had my vaccine."
Simon is 59-years-old. He's younger than the standard age of 65 and up to get the vaccine, but Baptist Health, unlike other sites, let people with high-risk conditions sign up.
"It was devastating because I know that was my one and only chance right now," said Simon.
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An email sent by Baptist Health to people who had appointments informed them that they "have not received an allocation of first dose vaccines for this coming week and beyond" and "the timing of any subsequent deliveries remains unclear."
The hospital system noted that this does not affect people who have already received their first dose and have appointments for a second booster shot.
Related: What You Need To Know About Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine In South Florida
On their website, Baptist Health said they don't know when or if they'll be getting any more of the vaccines, leaving many people in South Florida who already had appointments scrambling to figure out what's next.
"My question would be when you get more doses, shouldn't we be the first people that are offered appointments," said Simon.
Baptist Health said at this point they are not rescheduling any appointments and will re-evaluate based on vaccine availability.
