DeSantis expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to high-risk people under 65 at pharmacies, doctors’ offices
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Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility late last week to allow Floridians younger than 65 who have high-risk medical conditions to get the injections at doctors’ offices and pharmacies.
The governor signed an executive order late Friday that allows physicians, nurses and pharmacists to vaccinate people who “they deem extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.”
Previously, vaccines had only been available to people with “high risk” conditions through hospitals, which were left to determine for themselves which conditions and patients qualified.
The new order means eligible people could now be able to get the shot at pharmacies like Walmart and Publix, but does not include the state and county run vaccination sites.
The order didn’t specify what documentation will be required when showing up for a vaccine appointment at a participating pharmacy.
As of Sunday afternoon, Walmart’s website for COVID-19 vaccine appointments at its pharmacies did not include the expanded state criteria.
State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who had been pushing for vulnerable people to be added to the state’s vaccine rollout, applauded the move on Twitter as “HUGE.” In a follow-up tweet, Smith said that “a doctor’s note should be all that’s needed” for a vulnerable person to get inoculated at a pharmacy.
Earlier this month, Smith and his staff helped vulnerable residents make appointments through Walmart when the retail giant mistakenly offered appointments to people under 65 with comorbidities, which was contrary to the governor’s standing order at the time.
DeSantis has previously expressed reluctance to allow retailers, including those giving shots through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, to take on the role of deciding which potentially vulnerable people qualify for the vaccine.
“Really, it’s either got to be in a doctor’s office or in a hospital for that to be done,” he said Feb. 9. “I would hate to have a place like Publix, where someone comes in and they’re 35 and they say they have a comorbidity, and then Walmart or Publix has to referee that.”
Advocacy groups for people will a variety of illnesses that make them at greater risk of dying from COVID-19, including people with Down syndrome, have been pleading with the state to expand access to vaccine doses for the medically vulnerable.
Hospitals have had latitude in choosing who to inoculate. Orlando Health has included within the vulnerable category people with cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, solid organ transplant patients, obesity, pregnancy, a history of smoking and Type 2 diabetes.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
