Medically vulnerable people under 65 can get COVID-19 vaccine in Florida; where and how is unclear – Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Louis Llovio|Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Anita Winchell had a simple question.

I am 64, she wrote in an email to the Herald-Tribune, and I am at high risk for COVID due to lung disease.When and how can I get this much needed vaccine?

The answer should have been simple.

But, with murky rules about vaccine distribution from the state combined withhigh demand for the limited, though growing, supply of vaccine, it wasnt.

When the state of Florida released who would qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine it included people who are 65 and over, front-line health workers and those living and working in nursing homes.

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But there was a fourth, often overlooked, category, included in Gov. Ron DeSantis Dec. 23 executive order. That category, mentioned at the end,just above the governors signature, reads that Hospital providers, however, also may vaccinate persons who they deem to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.

That, to Winchell and tens of thousands of others who suffer from serious health issues, was a lifeline and meant that they would be eligible for the potentially lifesaving COVID-19vaccine.

But left without clear guidance, patients with complications and their doctors have to fend for themselves as they try to figure out whos qualified and when and where the vaccine can be administered.

The state, according to Samantha Bequer of the Florida Department of Emergency Management, hasasked hospitals to make their own determinations on who would qualify when vaccinating extremely vulnerable individuals.

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Winchell said she reached out to her doctors office and was told the office would possibly get the vaccine in two or three months and that she would qualify at some point.

They did not know anything more about getting the vaccine at a hospital.

According to the Florida Department of Health and Division of Emergency Management, to date the state has allocated more than 115,000 doses to hospitals to vaccinate individuals they deem extremely vulnerable.

That makes up a sliver of the 2.7 million who have beenvaccinated in the state as of Wednesday morning.

The logjam could be breaking, though, as more vaccines doses earmarked for the medically vulnerable begin heading to hospitals.

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The state says that in the past week 30,240 doses for the medically vulnerable have been sent to 28 hospitals.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital received 500 doses Friday that are dedicated to people who are high-risk and have certain underlying medical conditions.

The hospital said it will use guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine who qualifies.

On its website the CDC says people who areat an increased risk of severe illness from the virus includes those with Type 2 diabetes, cancer and COPD. People who mightbe at an increased risk include those with Type 1 diabetes, moderate to severe asthma and high blood pressure.

James Fiorica, the chief medical officer at SMH, said because the supply was so limited, the process of deciding who gets the vaccine was a little more challenging.

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So, what we did is, we had a defined process where we looked at our hospital patients, basically medically vulnerable individuals under 65, that were already in our hospital database, he said.

Fiorica said the hospital found the people to vaccinate through its outpatient disease management programs, heart failure program, COPD program and cancer patients, as well as patients at specialty clinics.

We just received them last Friday and we distributed them as soon as we got them out, he said.

DeSoto Memorial Hospital is also moving to vaccinate people with medical issues.

The hospital said its most recent allocation of vaccine doses was earmarked for people under 65 who are judged to be medically vulnerable, Sarah Hipp, the hospitals marketing director said.

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She said the hospital relied on CDC guidelines to determine who qualified and then reached out to doctors in the county asking for a list of their most vulnerable patients in that age group to ensure we were catching the appropriate patients.

We received 400 doses for this purpose and are still in the process of vaccinating these individuals, Hipp said.

In Manatee, Kevin DiLallo, CEO of Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, said the hospital has been focused on getting health care workers the shot and, as more doses arrive, we intend to continue to follow the administration guidance of the state.

In the absence of a definition of medicallyvulnerable, our medical staff will make a determination based on the most current, medically relevant information, he said in an email.

As for Winchell, she is still waiting for the vaccine and is losing patience.

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Two weeks after her initial inquiry, she was asked if there was any progress or if shed been able to get an exception.

No, I have not been able to get anywhere, she said. Im beyond frustrated at this point and Ive called hospitals, my doctors, the governor and my representative.

This storycomes from Aspirations Journalism, an initiative of The Patterson Foundation and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune to inform, inspire and engage the community to take action on issues related to Conquering COVID.

As of Thursday, Feb. 25:

Florida:About 2.8 million had been vaccinated. Of those, about 1.5 million had received the second dose.

Sarasota County: 79,411people hadbeen vaccinated. Of those, 36,397 had received the second dose.

Manatee County: 49,802 had been vaccinated. Of those, 24,819 had received the second dose.

Waiting in line in Sarasota County:Vaccinations are beingscheduled up to number 42,977.

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Medically vulnerable people under 65 can get COVID-19 vaccine in Florida; where and how is unclear - Sarasota Herald-Tribune