"It just seems like we are doing this backward."Īlonso, when asked whether she had heard from the drug stores, said on Wednesday, "Our operations objectives have changed. ![]() "It just seems silly to me to be letting two private companies - CVS and Walgreens -organize the distribution, the administration of these vaccines," McKinlay said. Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay questioned whether the drug stores were up to the task when health departments and emergency operations centers already have the infrastructure for mass inoculations, while the drug stores do not. I don’t have an answer for that,” Alonso said at the county commission meeting. “We don’t know how much CVS and Walgreens can or cannot do. Alina Alonso, the county health director in Palm Beach County, said on Tuesday that she needed to hear from drug store chains so she can direct the strike teams to areas where the stores cannot reach. ![]() Local officials are also expressing frustration with the lack of communication from Walgreens and CVS.ĭr. We are going to use what we have and we are going to continue on that mission until the job is down," DeSantis said. Six nursing homes in Miami-Dade County that have the wherewithal to vaccinate their own residents will also get the vaccine from the state. DeSantis said that the strike teams would vaccinate staff as well as residents at 112 facilities.įlorida adds 11,541 COVID-19 cases and 125 deaths, including 11 in PBC The state is splitting 21,450 doses of the Pfizer vaccine between Broward and Pinellas counties because of their high concentration of long-term care facilities. The strike teams consist of members of the National Guard and Emergency Medical Services personnel and are there to "take some of the load off Walgreens and CVS," he said. ![]() The state of Florida, thus, allocated some of the Pfizer vaccine itself, getting it to the strike teams to assist Walgreens and CVS in getting all seniors in long-term care facilities inoculated. "At the same time, we wanted to cut through bureaucracy, we didn't want to see delays, we didn't want our entire fortunes to be in the hands of what those companies did," the governor said. “We really believe that time is of the essence.”ĭeSantis said the state is "working collaboratively" with the drug store chains. “We were not happy with allowing that wait,” said DeSantis at John Knox Village. But DeSantis said that process won't start until Monday.Īlonso tries to fill in the blanks on COVID vaccine distribution Walgreens and CVS, under a contract with the federal government, received more than 60,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to administer to long-term care residents throughout the state. Ron DeSantis stood by the side of an 88-year-old former Missouri school teacher and watched her become one of the first seniors in a long-term care facility in the country to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.īut before Vera Leip was inoculated by a state strike team, DeSantis expressed concerns about the shifting availability of the Pfizer vaccine and criticized Walgreens and CVS for their slow start in getting to other nursing homes and assisted living facilities.Īfter Leip was inoculated, DeSantis then took the reins behind Leip's wheelchair and escorted her back into the facility at John Knox Village where others at the Pompano Beach facility had also gotten the vaccine. ![]() Watch Video: COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan: Gov.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |