Moderna Coronavirus Vaccine Headed To 173 Florida Hospitals

FLORIDA — As of Friday, Florida became the first state in the nation to begin vaccinating staff and residents of long-term care facilities.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the announcement, noting that the vaccination effort wouldn't be possible without the help of Emergency Medical Services strike teams in Pinellas and Broward counties.

DeSantis's comments came on the heels of another groundbreaking announcement Friday. Federal Healthcare Distribution Alliance President and CEO Chester "Chip" Davis Jr. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted an emergency use authorization for the Moderna pharmaceutical coronavirus vaccine.

Like the Pfizer vaccine, which was granted emergency authorization a week ago, tests show Moderna's vaccine to be 95 percent effective against the coronavirus.

“Today marks another significant step in our nation’s response to COVID-19 that will allow for more Americans to receive a vaccine in the coming months under the direction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, states and public health experts," Davis said. "HDA appreciates the tireless work of our manufacturer trading partners, the FDA, the CDC and Operation Warp Speed to advance two vaccine candidates so quickly."

DeSantis said the Pfizer vaccines will be rolled out to 111 long-term nursing care facilities in Broward and Pinellas counties in the next six days. To see a list of long-term nursing facilities receiving the Pfizer vaccine, click here.

Florida is also preparing to receive 367,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week.

Doses of the vaccine will be distributed to 173 hospitals across 43 counties in Florida, DeSantis said. For a list of hospitals receiving Moderna vaccinations next week, click here.

In the meantime, DeSantis also announced that Walgreens began its mission to vaccinate long-term care staff and residents in Jacksonville starting Saturday, three days ahead of schedule.

The vaccines arrived in the nick of time as the Florida Department of Health reported a record 13,019 new positive cases of coronavirus on Thursday.

This brings the total number of cases to 1,181,483 since the pandemic began. Of those, 59,602 have been hospitalized and 20,690 people have died of the coronavirus in Florida. That equates to one death per every 1,038 Floridians.

New Positive Coronavirus Cases In Florida

Coronavirus Deaths In Florida

Courtesy DOH

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