Miami-Dade may close some county vaccine sites after cutbacks Florida blames on feds

A planned pause in Florida’s vaccine deliveries to Miami-Dade’s county government may close vaccination sites in Tropical Park and Zoo Miami next week as the state cites frustrations with a slowdown in federal vaccine supplies.

“As of right now, Miami-Dade County has not received any vaccine allocation for this current week to maintain our vaccination [sites] nor will we receive any for next week,” Frank Rollason, Miami-Dade’s emergency director, said in an email Thursday. “Bottom line — with what we currently have on-hand, we will be out of vaccine early next week and shut down until the State provides another supply.”

The supply issues wouldn’t affect people with appointments already at the county sites, but could prevent Miami-Dade from offering new slots to people next week.

The county’s government only runs a portion of the vaccination sites available in Miami-Dade, with the state shipping vaccine doses to local hospitals, nursing homes, state-run clinics, churches and other organizations for immunizing local residents.

In an interview with the Miami Herald on Thursday, Florida Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz called the planned supply reductions to Miami-Dade “frustrating” but not “alarming” and based on federal supply cutbacks.

“What it is, is frustrating,” he said. “We are frustrated, too.”

Vaccine supply being allocated to states from the federal level has gone down, which puts the states in a bind when it comes to county allocations. After they take off doses earmarked for long-term care facilities and pharmacy programs, the rest must by divided among the 67 counties.

Next week, for example, leaves the state with just 170,000 doses. Rural counties like Calhoun and Baker will get 124 and 223, respectively.

Miami-Dade, the most populous county, will get 22,000 to be divided among the state’s Hard Rock Stadium site, the Marlins Park site and the three sites run by Jackson Health System. There will not be enough for Tropical Park and Zoo Miami.

“I have assured the mayor that as soon as the federal government sends more vaccine and county allocations increase, we will make sure we send vaccine for the zoo and for Tropical Park,” Moskowitz said. “This is why it’s not a distribution problem. A distribution problem would be that we don’t have the sites to get the vaccine out.“

He said for now, the state is trying to maintain some sense of stability among the 77 vaccine distribution sites, but the allotments for each week are only given with six days notice.

Miami-Dade maintains a website, miamidade.gov/vaccine, with links to some of the places where the public can sign up for vaccination appointments when they become available. State policy currently limits vaccinations to people 65 and over, rescue and healthcare workers, and people hospitals determine have conditions severe enough to receive early vaccinations.

Even as Miami-Dade received the news Thursday that its sites at Tropical Park and Zoo Miami would get no vaccine doses, the county expects a new state-run vaccination site to open at Marlins Park and enough state supplies to vaccinate 7,000 people.

Rollason said Hard Rock Stadium, an existing state site in Miami Gardens, would get 7,000 vaccine doses as well.

It’s not yet known if Miami-Dade will see a decline in doses countywide next week at a time when the county is counting on growing supplies to meet vaccination targets.

Jackson Health, the county hospital system at the vanguard of Miami-Dade’s vaccination efforts, also expects to see a dramatic reduction of vaccine deliveries in the coming days.

“We will have a challenge next week,” said Carlos Migoya, CEO of the hospital system. “We’re looking to see what else we have, and what else we can borrow from other places ... and try to do what we can.”

Migoya said the limited number of people ready for their second vaccine doses next week shouldn’t worry, because

state administrators said those supplies will come as planned.

The delivery changes are coming in the first round of vaccine doses, which make up the vast majority of injections countywide. The latest county statistics show about 3% of Miami-Dade’s 2.7 million residents have been vaccinated, with roughly 85,000 people receiving injections.

In a meeting with county commissioners, Migoya linked the hospital system’s reduced supply to Florida’s shifting deliveries within Miami-Dade and to other places in the state. “We may have a reduction of our allocation from the 14,000 down to 7,000 as they’re opening up drive-thrus in Dade County and other places, and also getting some of the vaccine for rural areas in Pensacola, where they have not done many vaccinations.”

The news of supply disruptions for two vaccine providers in Miami-Dade, the Florida county hardest hit by COVID-19, did not go over well. “Something needs to be done,” said Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, who represents a district that includes West Miami and the outskirts of Miami. “We need vaccines.”