Broward, Pinellas county skilled nursing facilities first in line to get COVID vaccine
Health officials in Broward County announced on Friday that they’ll send COVID-19 vaccination “strike teams” to 35 skilled nursing facilities in the first week after the state receives the likely-to-be-approved Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
The state health department offices in Broward and Pinellas counties will each receive about 10,000 doses of the vaccine from the federal government, likely within the next several days. From those two offices, the teams of health professionals will fan out to area skilled nursing facilities.
During a Friday afternoon virtual press conference, Dr. Paula Thaqi, director of the Broward state health department office, told reporters she expects enough doses to vaccinate all 3,211 residents and 5,901 staff members of the 35 skilled nursing facilities in the county, if they choose to receive them.
Thaqi said Broward and Pinellas were chosen to be the two counties in the state’s “pilot program” and other counties would replicate their plans, but it’s unclear if any additional doses are on the way, or when they would get to Florida.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to continue to protect the staff and residents of long-term care facilities,” Thaqi said. “We have a plan in place and we are ready to begin as soon as the vaccine arrives.”
If the pending emergency federal approval of the vaccine goes forward as expected in the next few days, the initial doses of the vaccine could arrive by early next week. Gov. Ron DeSantis first announced on Thursday that the state health department would receive 20,000 doses for strike teams to bring to nursing homes, but didn’t offer any details on how they would be distributed.
Thaqi made clear that there would be more doses than will be needed for all the staff and residents in the county’s 35 skilled nursing facilities, but did not have any details about what would happen to surplus doses, or if Miami would be in line to receive any.
“[The doses] will go to the initial priority groups and we will await further guidance from the Department of Health,” she said.
The initial priority groups are healthcare workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities.
While Thaqi mentioned that both the Broward and Pinellas offices of the Department of Health have ultra-cold storage — a requirement for the Pfizer vaccine — she did not directly address whether the two counties were chosen for that reason. Public health experts have voiced concerns about potential inequities in distribution influenced by the availability of cold chain storage.
When asked whether that was the deciding factor, Thaqi instead referred to the Broward office’s experience with the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic and pioneering of the strike team model.
“We actually originated the ambulance strike team model for long-term care facilities here in Broward to provide infection control guidance and assistance that was replicated throughout the state,” Thaqi said.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Broward, Pinellas county skilled nursing facilities first in line to get COVID vaccine."
