Florida Department of Health Provides Week 23 Updates on Florida’s Vaccination Efforts Under Governor DeSantis’ Leadership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 21, 2021

Contact: Joint Information Center on COVID-19 for the State of Florida (850) 815-4940, ESF14@em.myflorida.com

Florida Department of Health Provides Week 23 Updates on Florida’s Vaccination Efforts Under Governor DeSantis’ Leadership
~State Begins Transitioning State-Supported COVID-19 Testing Sites to Locally-Led Effort~

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health issued an update on the progress of the state's vaccination efforts, as well as its weekly COVID-19 update. The State of Florida is in its twenty-third week of vaccine distribution and is continuing to increase vaccine access statewide.

As of today, at 7 a.m., 9,916,161 individuals have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Florida; 3,801,330 million are seniors ages 65 and older.

As the State of Florida nears 10 million Floridians vaccinated statewide and experiences a decrease in demand for COVID-19 testing, the state is transitioning COVID-19 testing to a locally-led effort through the Florida Department of Health, county health departments, primary care providers and local governments.

The state operates 27 state-supported testing sites across 14 counties and is preparing to transition all state-supported COVID-19 testing sites by Friday, May 28. COVID-19 testing services will continue to be offered at the local level at nearly 200 locations, including county health departments. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has compiled a list of COVID-19 testing sites within ten miles of all existing COVID-19 testing sites. The list is available here.

Governor DeSantis’ administration is taking the necessary steps to ensure the vaccine gets administered as quickly as possible. This week, new actions to continue Florida’s proactive approach to vaccinations includes the following:

Vaccinations:

To provide Floridians with the latest information about vaccinations in the state, the Florida Department of Health has issued a COVID-19 vaccine report that is updated daily. This report includes information on the COVID-19 vaccine by county, race, sex and age. Find the COVID-19 vaccine report here.  

Appointments are no longer required at any state-supported vaccination site. Individuals ages 18 and older are eligible for vaccination, as well as individuals ages 12 and older receiving the Pfizer vaccine with the consent of a parent or guardian. Find a full list of state-supported vaccination sites here.

State of Florida Vaccine Accomplishments To-Date:

Week 23 (Underway)

• As the state experiences a decrease in demand for COVID-19 testing, the state is transitioning COVID-19 testing to a locally-led effort through the Florida Department of Health, county health departments, primary care providers and local governments by Friday, May 28. COVID-19 testing services will continue to be available statewide at nearly 200 locations, including county health departments. A list of operational COVID-19 testing sites within 10 miles of all existing COVID-19 testing sites is available here.
  
  
• The state is hosting mobile, one-day vaccination clinics in partnership with local community organizations to increase vaccine access to all Floridians. The state hosts up to 30 mobile vaccination events per day. The mobile vaccination event schedule is posted daily at FloridaDisaster.org/Vaccine.
  
  
• In one week, the State Homebound Vaccination program administered more than 2,400 vaccines to homebound individuals statewide. To date, more than 26,000 vaccines have been administered through the statewide homebound vaccination program. The state continues to encourage homebound individuals to sign up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at their home by filling out the survey available here, emailing HomeboundVaccine@em.myflorida.com or by calling 866-779-6121.
  
  
• The last day vaccines will be administered at the federally-supported vaccination sites in Tampa, Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville is Tuesday, May 25. The sites will continue to offer the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
  
  
• The Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Health continue to identify places of worship and other locations in underserved communities where the COVID-19 vaccine may be administered. To date, more than 107,000 vaccines have been administered in partnership with places of worship. Find this week’s places of worship vaccine events here.
  
  
• Under Governor DeSantis' leadership, more than 2,000 vaccination sites have been opened statewide in partnership with local communities, pharmacies and hospitals. The Florida Department of Health continues to identify active vaccine sites. All vaccine sites in Florida are posted on the Florida Department of Health's website here. 

Last week’s accomplishments are available here.

About the Florida Department of Health

The Florida Department of Health, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @HealthyFla. For more information please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.

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