Florida receiving 250,000 more vaccine doses

Reporter: Nicole Gabe Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published: Updated:
People waiting in line for vaccination. Credit: WINK News

A new shipment of 250,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Florida on Monday. If you already got one, or are scheduled to get one, it may feel like you won the lottery, but some haven’t been as lucky.

The vaccine is intended for those 65 and older and health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. But because the vaccine distribution is a federal program, no one will be turned away based on residency and they’re seeing appointment slots fill quickly, leaving many of you waiting for a new spot to open up.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says don’t lose hope just yet.

“It fills up very quickly, I mean when you have… when the hospitals are putting this out, it is filling up very quickly,” DeSantis said. “If you can’t get in now, just hang in there, because not only is there going to be more opportunities in the future, we get more vaccines in the short term, we want to get that out. So you may be able to sign up very soon.”

DeSantis is sticking to his plan: he made it clear the top priority is still senior citizens.
As of Jan. 9, over 21,000 people have been vaccinated in Lee County. WINK News reached out to Florida Department of Health in Lee and Collier counties to see if they’ll receive part of Monday’s new shipment but received no response.

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