TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that residents 50 and older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday, March 22, and that everyone will likely be eligible by May 1.
“We feel confident going to 50-plus,” DeSantis said at a press conference with Florida’s Emergency Management head Jared Moskowitz. “It makes a lot of sense right now.”
DeSantis said he plans to sign an executive order to lower the vaccine eligibility age on Friday. By Monday, those eligible to receive the vaccine will be:
- Long-term care facility residents and staff;
- People aged 50 and older;
- Frontline health care workers;
- Sworn law enforcement, K-12 school employees and firefighters aged 50 or older;
- People who are “extremely vulnerable” to the virus who have a state form signed by a physician.
DeSantis said Florida has vaccinated more than 3 million senior citizens, and that close to 70% of all Florida seniors have been vaccinated. There are about 2.83 million Floridians in their 50s, according to state data.
