Hospital, county contradict DeSantis' claim about role in Florida Keys residents' vaccines

Source: Miami Herald



2021/3/6 15:59 (EST) 3/7 07:16 (EST)updated

MIAMI —After Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed “the state was not involved” in arranging for more than 1,200 Keys residents in the wealthy Ocean Reef community to get accelerated access to the COVID-19 vaccine in January, both Baptist Health South Florida — which supplied the doses — and Monroe County have contradicted his claims, saying the distribution was authorized by the state.

“It is our understanding that the Medical Center at Ocean Reef asked the State of Florida for vaccine doses, and the State of Florida asked Baptist Health to take delivery of the doses to our ultra-cold freezer storage for delivery to the Medical Center at Ocean Reef,’’ said Dori A. Alvarez, spokesperson for Baptist Health Systems in a statement to the Herald/Times late Friday.

According to a Jan. 22 newsletter sent to residents of the exclusive Ocean Reef Club and obtained by the Miami Herald, the Medical Center at Ocean Reef reported: “Over the course of the last two weeks, the Medical Center has vaccinated over 1200 homeowners who qualify under the State of Florida’s Governor’s current Order for those individuals who are 65 years of age or older. We are fortunate to have received enough vaccines to ensure both the first and second for those vaccinated.”

The message also acknowledged that doses were in short supply: “At this time, however, the majority of the State has not received an allocation of first doses of vaccines for this week and beyond, and the timing of any subsequent deliveries remains unclear.”


Read more: https://this.kiji.is/741037672986017792?c=592622757532812385