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Florida seniors begin swarming coronavirus vaccination sites

Hundreds of seniors formed long lines outside testing sites — camping out overnight with lawn chairs and blankets — to get vaccinated.
 
Joel and Susan Pittelman, from Naples wait in line to receive COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday at East County Regional Library in Lehigh Acres.
Joel and Susan Pittelman, from Naples wait in line to receive COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday at East County Regional Library in Lehigh Acres. [ ANDREW WEST/THE NEWS-PRESS | AP ]
Published Dec. 30, 2020|Updated Dec. 30, 2020

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis begged for patience from anxious seniors waiting their turn to get inoculated against COVID-19, as confusion and frustration arose over the availability of the life-saving vaccine among some of the state’s most vulnerable.

At a testing site in southwest Florida, hundreds of seniors formed long lines outside testing sites — camping out overnight with lawn chairs and blankets — to get vaccinated. Before the sun had even risen Wednesday morning, the county’s vaccine supply for the day was already accounted for, prompting officials to turn down anyone else who was arriving.

Seniors in other parts of the state were frustrated by busy phone lines and websites that would no longer issue new vaccination appointments.

Related: ‘Hell, yeah, I’m going’: Palm Beach seniors get COVID-19 vaccine while others wait

DeSantis has prioritized Floridians older than 65 to be next in line for the state’s stock of vaccine, now that most health care workers and other first responders are protected against the virus that has infected more than 1.2 million Floridians and killed more than 21,000.

More than 82 percent of those who have died from the disease have been older than 65, underscoring the urgency in getting older Floridians vaccinated, the governor said Wednesday.

“The COVID-19 vaccine supply is still limited. We don’t have enough vaccine currently on hand for all 4 million-plus senior citizens in the state of Florida,” the governor said during a news conference in Delray Beach.

Hundreds of people wait in line Tuesday at the STARS Complex, in Fort Myers to receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Hundreds of people wait in line Tuesday at the STARS Complex, in Fort Myers to receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. [ ANDREW WEST/THE NEWS-PRESS | AP ]

“We’re going to get there but it’s not going to happen overnight. So please be patient,” the governor implored during a visit to a senior living community.

Related: DeSantis wants hospitals to vaccinate at-risk, elderly Floridians. Hospitals say they need help.

County health departments across the state are scrambling to deliver the vaccine to seniors. Amid uncertainty about how quickly the state can acquire more doses of two now-available vaccines, websites and phone lines have been inundated by demand.

“We’ve been at home for almost 10 months now. It’s really important to me, for my health, and to be able to do things I like to do and get back to normal,” said 90-year-old Abdulla Benkhatar, who took his place at the head of the line Tuesday morning at the North Fort Myers Recreation Center.

The facility is one of three in Lee County that has been set up to administer the vaccine, each with an allotment of 800 doses, according to WZVN-TV.

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Hundreds of people wait in line Tuesday at the STARS Complex in Fort Myers to receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Hundreds of people wait in line Tuesday at the STARS Complex in Fort Myers to receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. [ ANDREW WEST/THE NEWS-PRESS | AP ]

Early Wednesday morning, Lee County health officials, located on Florida’s Gulf Coast, announced all three sites had reached capacity in its third day of immunizing residents 65 and older. People had lined up outside a library, recreation center and a theater to snatch one of the few hundred doses available after health authorities said no appointment was necessary as they would be administered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that state health officials in Orange County on Tuesday closed its online portal after generating 30,000 appointments in about 24 hours.

As of Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health said it had administered doses to roughly 175,465 in the state, most of them health care workers, emergency first responders and residents of assisted care facilities.

Some seniors began receiving shots Monday in the first eight counties who received their vaccine allotments last week. The state’s other 59 counties are expected to soon begin receiving their share of vaccines.

To date, Florida has gotten more than 767,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It was unclear how much more was on the way from the federal government.

Counties and hospitals have taken different approaches in how they administer the vaccine, prompting confusion, frustration and lines.

“They are going to work through issues, as they have been,” the governor said. “If you are 65 and older, you are going to get access to this. It may not be today for everyone, may not be next week. But over the next many weeks, as long as we continue getting the supply, you’re going to have the opportunity to get this.”

--By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, Associated Press. AP reporter Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report from Miami.

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