"DeSantis for the win" - Let's create even more confusion about vaccination eligibility criteria edition. Latest DeSantis order on COVID-19 vaccines creates fresh confusion for medically vulnerable https://www.orlandosentinel.com/cor...0210301-ujew5rq4gzdgzbg6lppelnxgoy-story.html The latest executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis added a new layer of confusion Monday for “extremely vulnerable” Floridians under 65 hoping to get the COVID-19 vaccine: A doctor’s note isn’t enough. Instead, the order states, the doctor must certify that the patient meets “defined eligibility criteria” from the Florida Department of Health that have not yet been made public. Just days earlier, DeSantis’ previous order on the subject, which allowed pharmacies and doctors to begin immunizing medically vulnerable people, made no mention of further eligibility requirements. Monday’s order came after some Central Floridians said they had already made appointments to be vaccinated, thinking they’d need only their doctor’s OK. “This is what’s really frustrating,” said state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who has been advocating for vulnerable Floridians to have a chance to be vaccinated. “What’s the criteria? This comes without an explanation. And all I’ve been doing is trying to explain to constituents and vulnerable Floridians what this means. ... Apparently, the Department of Health is drawing up the criteria even as we speak.” Late Friday, DeSantis quietly issued an executive order allowing adults deemed “extremely vulnerable” by their physicians to be vaccinated by doctors, pharmacists and advanced nurse practitioners. Previously, such patients could only be vaccinated through hospitals, which had limited vaccine supply. But the Friday night order said only that the under-65 group needed to be determined by a physician to be extremely vulnerable. The order on Monday — which also opened vaccinations to teachers, fire fighters and law-enforcement personnel 50 and older— added new language for the medically vulnerable, saying, “such physician determinations shall include a statement that the patient meets the defined eligibility criteria established by a form prescribed by the Florida Department of Health.” Asked to clarify, a spokeswoman for the governor said that, before the order takes affect on Wednesday, the Florida Department of Health will provide a form that physicians “will have to fill out when they determine an individual is extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 and eligible for a vaccine.” In a statement to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Publix said it will not require documentation and will rely on the patients’ word that a doctor says they qualify. “As outlined in the Governor’s executive order, currently individuals need only communicate they have a qualifying condition as determined by a doctor in order to receive the vaccine, and we are not asking for documentation at this time,” the company said. Heather Barnes, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida, applauded the governor’s decision to expand vaccination opportunities but said it also left unanswered questions. “I would say our families are extremely pleased that the governor has updated priority categories,” she said. “But there’s still confusion over what documentation is needed. … Folks have unanimously decided they’re going to grab an appointment and just hope that it works out.” Following research showing that people with Down syndrome are 10 times more likely to die if infected by the coronavirus, their families and other residents with high-risk conditions have been clamoring to learn when they would become eligible for vaccination. For two months,DeSantis had mostly held steadfast to his “seniors first” approach. Melissa Kantrowitz of Oviedo, whose 18-year-old son has Down syndrome, had been hoping for weeks to get him a vaccination appointment. “This was a huge concern of ours because he is at higher risk,” she said. “And he is back at school because this is his senior year, and I didn’t want him to miss out.” After her husband read in the newspaper that DeSantis’ Friday night order would meanretail pharmacies couldoffer the vaccine to the medically vulnerable, he went to the Publix vaccine appointment site first thing Monday and was able to book an appointment. “I told my wife, ‘I can’t believe we did it,’” Alan Kantrowitz said. “It feels like a little bit of blind luck.” But other families reported that some retail pharmacies still wouldn’t book appointments for anyone under 65. And others said they made an appointment but then received a phone call saying they were ineligible. Neither Publix nor Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie, responded Monday to questions seeking further comment. The sites are likely to encounter a massive new wave of demand. Atif Fareed, executive director of Longwood-basedAmerican Muslim Social Services, said he is already lining up advanced nurse practitioners to administer vaccinations to the medically vulnerable when more vaccine is available. The nonprofit has partnered with Seminole County to host vaccination clinics on each of the past three Saturdays. Each time, he said, people under 65 with extreme risk factors show up pleading for a shot. “We were so sad that we had to turn them away because our hands were tied,” he said. “We tried to give them resources. We know the hospitals have a [waiting] list of people at higher risk, but they have been inundated. The demand obviously far exceeds the supply.”
Excellent. This should prevent people from claiming they have a medical condition and allow them to jump the line. Like how in NJ, people can claim they smoke and jump the line. Another excellent decision.
So please tell us what are the list of allowed medical conditions. Oh -- the public does not know; nor do the doctors.
Is there no list that Florida is providing to doctors and the public. Remember Florida does not follow CDC guidance.
No, Florida does not follow CDC guidance because it considers 65 and over a priority, not just 75 and older. We've discussed this. In a state with so many elderly, it is a smart thing to focus on 65 and older. The rules the CDC put in for the entire country don't consider specific states with large populations of elderly. If the CDC has a list of dangerous co-morbidities, I would gather doctors would use that list.
So Florida does not follow CDC guidelines for: Vaccination sequence Opening schools Providing public COVID data And just about everything else.
65 and older rather than 75 and older. Correct. that's the extent of the "does not follow guidelines". This is a positive. Opening schools - also a positive. Florida kids have been back in school since August (unless a parent wanted to remain virtual - they had to choice to do so). Providing public COVID data - they provide all the data needed on deaths, cases, and everything else on their website. This has allowed Florida to be #28 when ranked from worst (#1) to best (#50) in cases and deaths per 1M pop, and have some of the very BEST in the nation numbers in nursing home resident deaths and cases per 100 residents. And the state has been open for business. So yep, thank God DeSantis actually thinks independently. Oh, and remember the CDC guidelines I posted that said masks don't help? So much for CDC guidelines.
Florida seniors still struggle to get COVID vaccine, even as DeSantis expands access https://www.floridatoday.com/story/...ands-access-65-appointment-publix/6866858002/ With the latest executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state has entered a new phase of vaccine access to anyone who is at high risk of getting seriously ill, hospitalized or even dead from the COVID-19 virus. “Get your doctor’s notes ready!” State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, tweeted Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, seniors are still struggling to get an appointment, even though more than half the state’s 4.5 million people 65 and older have been vaccinated. “My husband is a 30-year veteran (2 tours as a pilot in Vietnam), 88 years old and on dialysis. And, I can't get him the vaccine. What can I do?” Joyce Egan wrote to USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida after reading in the Naples Daily News that younger people are getting the vaccine. DeSantis quietly issued the executive order Friday night expanding the vaccine accessibility to allow doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacies to administer the vaccine to anyone determined by their doctor to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. Prior to the new order, vaccines could only be given to people 65 and over, long-term care residents and staff, and frontline healthcare workers. Hospitals were the only places that could administer vaccines to people under 65 who had comorbidities. State-run and county health clinics still cannot give vaccines to people under 65. Three days after he signed the executive order, DeSantis had not issued a press release and the state Department of Health website had not been updated. The Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to an email asking if state officials told Publix or Walmart about the executive order. Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said Monday that neither she nor the company was made aware of the governor's order before it was made public. By Sunday night, Publix had updated its website to acknowledge that the governor’s executive order allows pharmacies to administer the vaccine to those who are under 65 and medically vulnerable. Publix was taking appointments Monday morning, but all but eight counties were fully booked, and those counties were running out quickly. “As outlined in the Governor's executive order, currently individuals need only communicate they have a qualifying condition as determined by a doctor in order to receive the vaccine, and we are not asking for documentation at this time,” Brous said. Walmart’s COVID-19 vaccination site referred people to their state’s guidelines to see if they were eligible to get the vaccine. More doses coming, but demand still outstripping supply Meanwhile, demand continues to outpace supply for eligible seniors, even as the state’s dosage has increased by more than 60% in the last four weeks — to about 450,000 doses this week. At a news conference at the Florida Capitol Monday, DeSantis announced the state could get an additional 175,000 doses of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine just approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "We don't know for sure if we will get it this week, but we think we will," DeSantis said, adding that the amount was not yet confirmed. "Floridians should understand that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the clinical trials was very effective. This is a really good vaccine. It has proven to be 100% effective against death and hospitalization." Because of that and higher allotments of the Pfizer vaccine, plus four federal sites coming online, DeSantis said he would sign an executive order to allow K-12 school personnel, firefighters and police 50 and older to be eligible for the vaccine. The order was issued shortly after noon and takes effect Wednesday. "We could do all of that 50 up, K-12 personnel, police and fire, with just our J&J shipment," DeSantis said. That still doesn't alleviate the concerns of some residents that demand is still outstripping the supply. “No one addresses the problem that those of us over 65 closer to 84 who have not been vaccinated as yet and are waiting patiently for that important call,” said Sal Bonavita of Fort Myers an email. "My wife is 74 and I am 83. Who do we call to set up an appointment as no is calling us? It seems we have fallen between the cracks.” Bonavita said the governor should have started with 80-year-olds or older and worked his way down. “Starting with 65 year-olds in Florida is too wide a swath,” he said. 'Shunted to a wait room' and a COVID Catch-22 Sue Tait of Virginia registered her 88-year-old father with the state a month ago and he has yet to receive a COVID vaccine. “I have been logging onto the Publix website at 6 a.m. and now 7 a.m. every Wednesday, Friday, and now Monday also ... trying to get him an appointment in either Collier (where he lives) or Lee county. I get shunted to a wait room and wait,” Tait said. Those appointments in Lee and Collier counties typically fill within 45 minutes, she said. She also registered her father to get a vaccine in the community where he lives, Pelican Bay. The North Collier Fire District is administering some 400 doses of the vaccine to residents there, but the planned community has some 14,000 people living there. “At the time I registered my dad there were 1,200 already registered,” Tait said. "I am sure it has grown by now. However, if they were to use age as a selection parameter I think that he would be good.” Tait and others have complained that Publix has stopped listing the number of doses available in each county and switched to a percentage of appointments available. “The discrepancy within the state was astounding,” Tait said. For example, Collier showed 800 doses and Palm Beach showed 6,000, with the latter having appointments available for hours, she said. The percentages don’t show that discrepancy. “I know some of this is population based but this sign-up pattern has been consistent week after week and doesn’t seem right,” she said. Brevard County residents Joe Vinski said he is not sure how vaccines were distributed, but on two different days he noticed Palm Beach, with 23.9% of its population over 65, had over 9,000 available doses, compared to the next highest, Lee County, with 28.6% of its population over 65 and only 4,600 doses available. “I’m sure quite a few factors weigh into the vaccination program and distribution,” Vinski said. "But appearance wise I would hate to think politics over need is one of them.” More: Another upscale Florida community got special vaccine access; this one has a splash park More: Sarasota County community with million-dollar homes got special vaccine access More: DeSantis defends vaccine clinic accused of favoritism, threatens to send vaccines elsewhere after complaints Karin Keiderling, 66, of Ponte Vedra, said she found herself in a sort of COVID Catch-22. “My doctor insists that I get the vaccine in a medical facility. Unfortunately vaccine supplies have been diverted to Publix and I haven’t been able to find any place for me,” she said. All vaccines have been diverted to pharmacies or the county health drive-thrus, Keiderling said. “They ask five questions and if you respond Yes to any one of them, then you are not eligible to use their process,” she said. “They refer you to your primary care doctor.” But the primary care doctors have no vaccines, and refer patients back to hospitals. “Mayo hospital is closest to me (and I am on their waiting list) and they have not received new supply since the Publix deal. Baptist South and St Vincent all told me the same thing,” she said. And when she called the governor’s hotline number, she said, it was disconnected. “So if 65+ with or without medical issues are the primary focus - how does this work?” Fort Myers News-Press reporter Frank Gluck contributed to this report. Jeffrey Schweers is a capital bureau reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida. Contact Schweers at jschweers@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.
Florida's DeSantis faces criticism over Covid-19 vaccination clinics in upscale communities https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/us/desantis-florida-covid-vaccine-sites/index.html Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing bipartisan criticism and a call for a federal investigation after the state set up invitation-only Covid-19 vaccination clinics in at least two upscale communities. One prominent developer in two communities donated to DeSantis' campaign -- in amounts of $25,000 and $50,000 between 2018 and 2019 for a total of $125,000, according to campaign finance records. The exclusive vaccine clinics allowed about 6,000 people to jump ahead of tens of thousands of seniors on waitlists in Manatee and Charlotte counties, where the drives happened. "I'm an active Republican, so I'm a fan of the governor, but I think that this could have been done better," said Harvey Goldstein, a staunch Republican in Charlotte County. (More at above url)