Florida getting influx of COVID-19 vaccines after feds increase shipments
ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida is set to receive 76,000 more vaccine doses next week than it received this week.
According to data from the Department of Health and Human Services, the state will be getting 209,430 doses of Pfizer and 208,000 doses of Moderna vaccines, totaling 417,430 vaccines.
The big jump comes after the White House announced it will increase vaccine supplies to 13.5 million doses a week. Those vaccines will go to the states.
"This is a 57% increase from the amount states received when the president was inaugurated. So since then, obviously, we have announced a couple of increases over the course of time," said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
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Counties will learn how many vaccines they will get at the end of the week. Counties like Osceola are ready to administer more vaccines, should they receive higher numbers. Osceola has a main county-sponsored vaccination site, as well as partnerships with pharmacies.
For example, one partnership is with ‘Prescriptions Unlimited’ in St. Cloud, which gives vaccines to homebound seniors.
"Normally we find out the end of the previous week what we’re going to receive and then we receive that allocation the beginning of the following week," said Jeremy Lanier with the Florida Department of Health in Osceola County. "The more vaccine we receive, the more we can distribute to those community partnerships and to our main vaccination site in Kissimmee."
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There will also be a vaccine education event at the Hope Partnership in Kissimmee at 9 a.m. Wednesday. It will educate people on how to register for an appointment and the safety of the vaccine.
Those who want to attend are encouraged to bring their cell phones so that workers can help walk them through the process. There will be people that can assist in Spanish too.
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However, winter weather is affecting vaccine shipments this week. The state said that 200,000 doses of Moderna's vaccine have been delayed. Governor Ron DeSantis expects the doses to arrive Thursday or Friday, he said on Wednesday.
He added that the "vast, vast majority" of a weekly Pfizer vaccine delivery hasn’t been delayed by bad weather across large parts of the nation.
"You see all the storms. You see a lot of the ice. I think some of this stuff is in Memphis or the places where they ship from," DeSantis said. "So, it’s a combination of the weather, the ice and then obviously the different logistics that result from that."
As a result, Publix said that it will not reopen its vaccine registration as planned on Wednesday. However, others -- like Seminole and Orange counties -- are not expecting any delays at all. Brevard County will know soon if they will be impacted at all.
Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.