TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Florida’s initial distribution plan for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday.
According to the plan released Wednesday, Pending Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Florida is preparing to receive 367,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week.
Doses of the Moderna vaccine will be distributed to 173 hospital locations that did not receive doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and the list spans 43 counties in the state.
Local hospitals on the list are:
- Capital Regional Medical Center - Tallahassee, Fla.
- Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare - Tallahassee, Fla.
- Madison County Memorial Hospital - Madison, Fla.
- Jackson Hospital - Marianna, Fla.
- Doctor’s Memorial Hospital - Perry, Fla.
Capital Regional Medical Center and TMH both released statements regarding their inclusion on the list.
The Governor’s announcement today was exciting to hear and we look forward to receiving our first distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine very soon. Our clinical and operational teams have been preparing detailed plans to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to our interested colleagues as soon as we receive them. Though the vaccines will not be mandatory for our team members, we believe they are a major step towards ending this pandemic. We will follow national direction on vaccine administration recommendations, as well as our tiering system that ensures those at greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19 have access to the vaccine first based on national and state guidelines.
As supplies increase, the vaccine will eventually be available for all of our colleagues that wish to receive it. Throughout the pandemic, our frontline care teams and the support functions behind them have focused on delivering the best possible care in the safest way. Our care teams have truly gone above and beyond, time and time again, and answered the call to care for others. Together, we have fought the pandemic, and now it is time to take the next step: administer vaccines that can ultimately stop the virus.
The State of Florida released a list of hospitals slated to receive the first distribution of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) is one of the selected hospitals and could receive the vaccine as soon as next week. At this time, TMH is awaiting more information about the delivery timeline and allotment size. TMH established a working group who reviewed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for vaccine distribution and the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 vaccination plan and has developed a plan to administer the vaccine and report immunization records to Florida SHOTS. Our plan is already in place and will be adjusted once the vaccine allotment amount and delivery timeline are available.
According to the state, Florida can distribute this vaccine to a large number of hospitals as the Moderna vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage.
This announcement comes days after Florida received its first shipment of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
To read the full list of the hospitals receiving the Moderna vaccine as part of the plan, click here.
