Florida Governor Hopes To Open Up Vaccines To All Adults In April

FLORIDA — With 60 to 75 percent of seniors age 65 and up now vaccinated against coronavirus in most Florida counties, Florida Gov. Ron Desantis anticipates opening up vaccinations to all adults in April.

On route with his wife and children to check out Bike Week activities in Daytona Beach, DeSantis stopped off at a retirement community in Volusia County to delivery 4,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration Feb. 27.

Initial reviews were mixed about the one-dose vaccine but DeSantis said leading health experts have pronounced it 100 percent effective.

"Think about it; you get one dose and move on," said DeSantis. "You don't have to think about scheduling a second dose. There's really no looking back with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine."

He said he hopes to get more of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for Florida residents. In the meantime, his Seniors First program focused on vaccinating residents age 65 and over is wrapping up, prompting DeSantis to lower the age eligibility to 60 years old starting Monday.

"The reporting lags but we probably have had three million, well over 50 percent of the seniors living in Florida vaccinated now," he said.

Nearly every county with a population of 100,000 or more now have 60, 65 and 75 percent of its seniors age 65 and up vaccinated.

St. Johns County has 80 percent vaccinated; Palm Beach County more than 70 percent vaccinated; Broward County 67 percent vaccinated; and Sarasota County 62 percent vaccinated.

He said Hernando County is the only county with 100,000 people or more than has less than 50 percent of its seniors vaccinated.

"In Florida, the rolling seven-day average of COVID cases for seniors age 65 and up is down 84 percent from Jan. 6 to March 8," DeSantis saod.

Additionally, the rolling seven-day average for hospitalizations of seniors age 65 and up is down 79 percent from Feb. 3 to March 8.

"We're in a situation where we've got enough vaccines available and enough seniors vaccinated to lower the age to 60 on Monday," he said. "And some time is March we will be able to lower the age to 55. Once you get under age 55, the mortality for coronavirus is very, very low."

Since there will always be some people who decline to be vaccinated, he doesn't expect to ever have 100 percent of any age group vaccinated. He said about the best that can be expected is 80 percent, and he expected to reach that threshold quickly in the age 55 and up population, allowing the state to open up vaccinations to all adults by May 1.

Pharmaceutical companies are working to develop a separate vaccine for children. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is only approved for those age 16 and older and the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved for those age 18 and up.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children are not yet priorities for vaccination because they are much less affected by the coronavirus infection. Children make up about 13 percent of all cases reported in the United States so far, but less than 3 percent of all reported hospitalizations and less than 0.21 percent of all deaths.

"Once we get into April and see production increases, I think you're going to get into a situation where the vaccines are widely available, but I think the demand for them will be a fraction of what it is for older people," he said.

DeSantis said the days of computer systems failing as 1,000 people scramble to claim a single dose of vaccine are over.

"You get the vaccine, then you live your life," DeSantis said. "Once you get the shots, you won't have to worry. Just think of where we were a year ago. We had zero treatments, and they were saying it would be years before we get a vaccine."

He said Florida has refuted the predictions of doomsayers who warned that Floridians would perish if the state reopened schools, businesses and allowed events like Bike Week, expected to attract 300,000 people, to take place.

In response to President Joe Biden's statements Thursday that more lockdown policies may be necessary in the future, DeSantis was emphatic.

"Let me tell you, there are no lockdowns in Florida," he said, noting that 40 states have a higher mortality rate for seniors than Florida even though many of them remain substantially closed. "We're not going to let anyone close schools; we're not going to let anyone take your jobs; and we're not going to let anyone close your businesses."

Nor will the government dictate the cancellation of events like Bike Week that infuse Florida's tourism-dependent economy.

Just as he pointed out when Tampa hosted the Super Bowl in February, "no one's saying you have to come," DeSantis said.

He said the only downside to "doing things right" and lowering the state's unemployment rate to the current 4.9 percent is the federal stimulus money that Florida should have received is now going to lockdown states. Nevertheless, throughout the pandemic year, he said, "I didn't touch any of Florida's rainy day fund this entire time."

He said the proof that his Senior First initiative works is in the statistics.

According to the Florida Department of Health, Florida now has a 4.88 percent positivity rate, below the 5 percent threshold used by the CDC to determine whether it's safe to reopen businesses and schools.

On Thursday, nearly as many residents tested negative (100,181) as tested positive (105,325) for the coronavirus.

Since the pandemic started a year ago, less than two million Floridians have tested positive for the coronavirus (1,967,865), 82,006 were hospitalized and 32,145 Floridians have died.

See related stories:

• More Contagious COVID-19 Variant Surges Ahead Of FL Spring Break
• DeSantis Cancels All COVID-19 Fines Issued By Local Governments
• Governor Announces Expansion Of Walgreens Vaccination Sites