LAUDERDALE LAKES, FLA. (WSVN) - Vaccination sites continue to pop up across South Florida to increase the number of injections being distributed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The ages and requirements for getting the vaccine may soon be changing.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said 47% of Florida seniors have been vaccinated. He said he hopes that with a third vaccine on the way as well as more vaccination sites, he can soon open up access to more groups of people.
“It means a lot to me, you know,” said Pierre Chery, “because that is going to give me peace of mind.”
Drivers lined up in Lauderdale Lakes where part of a Walmart parking lot had been transformed into a vaccination site.
“Everybody should get it,” said Fay Tench who was in line for the vaccine. “Protect ourselves and our children and our grandparents and everybody.”
South Florida seniors now have more convenient options with more pharmacies offering the vaccine this week.
“We’re looking at, within the next four to six weeks, we’re going to see this, I think, potentially turn a corner just in terms of how ready access people have to it,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis spoke in Jacksonville on Thursday morning about the impact that increased supply from Moderna and Pfizer will have along with a third vaccine likely coming soon.
“If you take something that could be life-threatening and you’re taking it to where you’re going to be immune to it or it’ll be reduced to something like a common cold, that is a huge plus,” he said. “We believe Johnson & Johnson is going to be a great tool.”
The governor also announced more locations opening in South Florida starting Thursday: Overtown Youth Center, Oak Grove Park in Miami and Broward Community College North.
“These sites will offer at least 200 vaccines a day,” he said.
On Friday, the FDA will review data from the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and if it gets the green light for emergency use authorization, officials said, it won’t take long to send it out.
“If a EUA is issued, we anticipate allocating three million to four million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine next week,” said a member of the White House Task Force.
“I don’t know for sure how many vaccines that means for the state of Florida,” said DeSantis. “We think it’s going to be tens of thousands. I hope it’s more than that, but at a minimum, tens of thousands.”
DeSantis is set to make another announcement next week expanding vaccine access to law enforcement and teachers 50 years and over.
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