Sources have told Inweekly that Gov. Ron DeSantis has cut the next week’s vaccine shipment for Escambia County from 8,000 to 800.
Update – Monday, 8 a.m. – the vaccines have been cut to 2,800, not 800. The 2800 allocation is divided among FDOH Health, Community Health and the hospitals. According to Commissioner May, 638 people were vaccinated yesterday at the Brownsville Community Center.
Escambia County has over 54,000 residents 65 or older.
The lack of a single statewide COVID-19 Vaccination Appointment system is a tragedy. A generic system should have been ready to go (pre-COIVID-19) for use during any type of pandemic and regularly tested and stressed by FDOH and its local offices during statewide emergency management exercises. Had they done that, it would have made people in higher government offices more aware that many (especially older Floridians) do not have computer access, many do not have a large support network of people who can help them (many of frightfully isolated) and some will have trouble just finding a way to get to a vaccination site many miles away to get a shot. (I live in a part of Scenic Heights where I see many people who walk to Walmart, CVS, Dollar Tree, Winn Dixie to get food.) There also seems to be some confusion in the mind of many as to whether the fault lies at the state level or county government. WEAR TV 3 adds to the confusion by referring to the local FDOH office in Escambia County (a state office) as the “Escambia County Health Department” or “Escambia County Department of Health.” I keep telling people that there is no point complaining to the county about a state government problem. Escambia County Commissioners help bring on some heat themselves when they show up at vaccination events to wave and stroke themselves in public bragging about their leadership in front of voters in line to get a shot or waiting the 15/30 minute wait time after the shot. One makes quite a nuisance of himself at vaccination events. As early as March 2020, names of people wanting should have been going into a statewide COVID-19 vaccine appointment data base with everyone given a single tracking number (like FEDEX) and a way to check where they stand on the list. This is 2021 not 1951. Don’t blame the local FDOH employees. I bet that they are doing the best they can given the few tools at their disposal owing to a lack of planning in Tallahassee. I hope by the time of my wife’s second shot (January 30) they have figured out how to synchronize doses with shots in arms.
Do you have any idea yet how this compares with cuts made to other counties, Rick? The federal botch job on the vaccine roll-out was no surprise, them lying about holding vaccines in reserve was no surprise, and so this really isn’t surprising, either.
What will be a huge surprise to me is if all the other counties in Florida got their supply cut 90%, like Escambia did.
Of course, we’ll probably never know the truth on that. Along with anything else about Florida’s covid response.
That’s terrific for all of us who have been unable to make an appointment with Ascension Sacred Heart or Public and have never heard back from the Health Department! I’m sure some other counties must be making better promises of cash to DeSantis.