Feds: COVID vaccines for Florida kids available, but delayed after state failed to preorder doses

COVID-19 vaccines for Florida children under 5 will likely be delayed because the state failed to participate in a national preordering process managed by the U.S. Government, federal officials said Friday.

Florida was the only state in the nation that did not preorder COVID-19 vaccines for children, Dr. Ashish Jha, the Biden administration’s coronavirus response coordinator, said in a national news conference conducted via Zoom from the White House.

“We have been planning for this moment for many many weeks,” he said. “We knew this was coming and we have done a lot of preparation.”

The Biden administration said on June 2 that children under 5 may be able to get their first COVID-19 vaccination doses as soon as this coming Tuesday, provided that federal regulators authorized shots for the age group, as expected.

But Jha said Florida “intentionally missed multiple deadlines to order vaccines to protect its youngest kids.”

He asserted the state missed a deadline of this past Tuesday to order the shots from the federal government, and that the inaction will result in delays in delivering doses to Florida health providers whose patients want them.

But now, Jha claimed, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is allowing pediatricians and children’s hospitals to order COVID-19 vaccines directly from the federal program aimed at inoculating children between six months and 5 years old.

“I am personally pleased to see, and we are pleased to see, that after intense pressure on Florida’s governor to allow parents to make their own decisions in consultation with their pediatricians, Florida this morning has opened up ordering for COVID-19 vaccines to providers including pediatrician offices across the state,” Jha told reporters.

The move would allow parents who want shots for their children to get them from their doctors. Previously, they would have been available at certain community health centers and facilities involved in a federally-run pharmacy program.

Florida’s outlier status has angered Lisa Gwynn, president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

She said that previously, the Florida Department of Health distributed vaccines through an electronic ordering system for pediatricians. Hospitals also ordered vaccines from the state.

“We don’t know when the vaccines are going to arrive because we are at the end of the line,” she told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “DeSantis got the attention of the entire country, didn’t he?”

She’s also upset with the governor for continuing to insist the vaccine is not proven effective for younger children.

“The vaccine is safe and effective for children 6 months and up,” Gwynn said, “It is absurd and infuriating. He has a surgeon general who is not a pediatric doctor, nor is he an infectious disease expert, and they are not listening to the experts in those fields.”

Running battle

For months, Gov. Ron DeSantis has clashed with the Biden administration over a wide array of federal countermeasures designed to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest round came this week over providing special doses of vaccines for children under 5.

On Thursday, DeSantis reiterated at a news conference that his administration does not support vaccines for children. But he stopped short of saying the state would forbid them.

“Our Department of Health has been very clear, the risks outweigh the benefits and we recommend against it,” he said. “That’s not the same as banning it. I mean, people can access it if they want to and parents can do so ... Doctors can get it, hospitals can get it, but there’s not going to be any state programs that are going to be trying to, you know, get COVID jabs to infants and toddlers and newborns.”

Earlier in the week, Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health, told the Miami Herald there were no plans to order the vaccine in the future because the agency doesn’t recommend it for healthy kids.

And on Friday, Christina Pushaw, press secretary for DeSantis, denied that the governor had reversed course or changed his position.

“The State of Florida and Surgeon General Dr. [Joseph] Ladapo affirmatively recommend against vaccinating babies and kids 0 to 5 for COVID, and COVID vaccines are generally not recommended for kids under 18,” she said. “But it has always been the parent’s choice and that will remain the case.”

And she said the state is not participating in the order process described by Jha.

“The state is not placing orders,” she said. “It’s up to health providers to place orders if they choose to do so depending on patient demand.”

In Washington, though, Ashi told reporters that Florida had changed course because the state is now allowing private health care providers to order the shots.

”We are encouraged that after repeated failures by Gov. DeSantis to order COVID-19 vaccines even after every other state had ordered [them], the State of Florida is now permitting health care providers to order COVID-19 vaccines for our youngest children,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement.

“We believe it is critical to allow parents everywhere to have the choice to get their kids vaccinated and have a conversation with their pediatrician or healthcare provider,” she said. “Even though Gov. DeSantis reversed course and is now ordering vaccines, we will pull every lever to get pediatricians across Florida vaccines as quickly as possible.”

Green light from FDA advisers

The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisers gave their approval on Wednesday to vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for infants, toddlers and preschoolers around the United States.

Pfizer’s vaccine is one-tenth of its adult dose and is intended for kids 6 months to 4 years old. Moderna’s shot contains one-fourth of the dose given to adults and is intended for kids 6 months to 5 years old. The shots will likely be given in three-course series.