Gov. DeSantis: Residents 65+ next to get COVID-19 vaccine

Governor to sign executive order making senior citizens next to get COVID-19 vaccine

Gov. Ron DeSantis made the announcement on Wednesday from Pensacola.

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed an executive order placing a priority on residents 65 and over to receive coronavirus vaccines once medical workers and long-term care residents and staff get the shots.

"We’re making clear in this executive order that our first priority for the general population - once the nurses, the doctors, and the long-term care facilities are done - is to vaccinate people 65 and older."

DeSantis’s decision bucks a suggestion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to place a priority on people 75 and older and essential workers like teachers and first responders as the next to get vaccinated.

"The problem is people that are 73, 74 would be in the back of the line for a young 21-year-old worker who’s considered ‘essential.’ That doesn’t, I think, make sense," DeSantis said at a Pensacola hospital.

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He also said doctors should use their judgment to vaccinate people with underlying health conditions like cancer that make them more vulnerable to the virus.

The next priority when more vaccine arrives would be law enforcement, firefighters and teachers, DeSantis said.

About 70,000 people have been vaccinated in Florida in the past week, he said.