Gov. DeSantis announces when Florida’s COVID vaccine age will drop to 40 and then to 18

All Florida adults will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as of April 5, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday morning.

The next reduction of the age level for automatic vaccination eligibility, which now stands at 50, will be Monday, when the age drops to 40. The following Monday, the age will drop to 18.

Those 16- and 17-year-olds considered by a physician to be “extremely vulnerable” can get vaccinated at Jackson Health, Nicklaus Children’s, CVS Pharmacies and Navarro Pharmacies.

Florida residents can pre-register at the state COVID vaccination site or call the vaccine pre-registration number for their county.

DeSantis makes this move two weeks after President Joe Biden directed all states, tribes and territories to have a plan for all adults to be eligible to be vaccinated by May 1. That same day, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava asked DeSantis to come up with a schedule for making all Floridians age eligible for vaccination and laid out her own plan.

What DeSantis announced Thursday makes all adults eligible a month earlier than what Levine Cava proposed then and a week earlier than a revised plan she laid out to county commissioners last week.

Herald Staff Writer Michelle Marchante contributed to this report.

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