Younger people will have access to COVID-19 vaccines in March, April, DeSantis says

The eligibility age for coronavirus vaccines in Florida will lower in March, and shots should be widely available by April, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday, facing more questions from reporters about the state’s plan for distributing the drugs.

“I would say, without question, barring any problems with the vaccine distribution, you’re going to see the age lower at some time in March, for sure,” he said at a news conference in Jacksonville. “As soon as we have the metrics to justify it, we’re going to let people know.”

By April, vaccines are “not going to be very difficult for people to be able to get,” DeSantis added. “I think the supply is going to be very robust. ... Within the next four to six weeks, you’re going to see this, I think, potentially really turn a corner just in terms of how ready access people have to it.”

Thursday was the first time the governor has spoken specifically about when access to vaccines might expand. But there were still details lacking, like how much the age will lower, and whether the state will make shots available to essential workers and people considered medically vulnerable.

DeSantis suggested earlier this week in Miami that teachers and law enforcement officers ages 50 and older would get access to vaccines next, through four vaccination sites the Federal Emergency Management Agency will open on March 3 in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville and Miami.

He spoke more clearly about that eligibility expansion on Thursday, stating it as fact rather than a possibility, and said more information about those groups’ access will be announced next week.

DeSantis also said the state is “looking at the most effective way” to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine once it gets federal approval, which is expected as soon as this week. Vials will be shipped to Florida immediately, he said, and the state expects to receive tens of thousands of doses.

“We’re going to work with different folks to figure out what is the best way to apply that,” he said of the Johnson & Johnson doses. “We’re working on it today and tomorrow and by beginning of next week, we’ll have an announcement.”

As he had earlier in the week, the governor defended Florida’s lack of a cohesive, detailed plan for vaccine rollout, saying that he hasn’t wanted to share information that might have to change.

“People say, ‘Oh, these other states have all these plans,’” he said. “A lot of those plans haven’t worked out. I mean, they’ve had to change their criteria … they had plans in December and had to shift.”

Meanwhile in Florida, public officials, local leaders and residents have written to the governor and taken to social media to express frustration about the lack of information coming from the state regarding vaccines.

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott asked the state for clarity on the rollout in a letter Jan. 8, and Congressman Charlie Crist has criticized DeSantis’ for months for not being transparent about distribution.

“The notion that there would not be a plan, or if there is one and you’re not transparent about it — neither of those scenarios are good,” Crist said in a recent interview. “That’s unforgivable.”

Health experts also have expressed worry about how little information has come from the state, saying it’s bred confusion and created frantic scrambling for shots among residents.

“The general public still doesn’t have a good sense of what’s happening, when vaccines will be available and how,” Dr. Glenn Morris, director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida, said in January, about a month into the state’s rollout.

On Thursday, DeSantis again defended his “seniors first” approach to vaccine distribution, saying that Florida wants to reach even the seniors who are torn about whether they want the vaccine before opening up access to other groups.

“We just have to look at that to see, but I’ve said from the beginning, we are going to lower the age,” the governor said. “As soon as we’re in a situation where the seniors are being taken care of, we’re going to look to do that.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 1:27 PM.