Florida is lowering the eligibility age to receive a coronavirus vaccine to 50, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced Friday.
DeSantis, flanked by Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz, said the eligibility will officially go into effect Monday.
“We think we’ve done pretty good this week with the 60 to 64,” DeSantis said. “But quite frankly, we think that even on current vaccine allotments, opening it up will be good.”
“I think the demand has been relatively modest, certainly much more modest than it was at the end of December when we were doing the 65 and plus. So we think that this makes sense,” DeSantis continued, explaining they will “make changes to see where the demand is,” if need be.
The Republican governor added the vaccine will likely be available to all adults by May 1. President Joe Biden made a similar pledge during last week’s speech marking the one-year anniversary of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
“All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. That’s much earlier than expected,” Biden said during the speech, although he clarified it “doesn’t mean everyone’s going to have that shot immediately.”
DeSantis laid out the next steps for Florida’s vaccination rollout, saying, “Our next move will most likely be to just say that anyone who qualifies under the EUA — so, 16 or 18 and up, depending on the shot — we can probably just open up to everybody.”
Florida has administered 7,522,691 doses of the vaccine, a rate of 35,026 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) March 18 data.
DeSantis has made it clear vaccines will remain optional in the Sunshine State and blasted the concept of vaccine passports Thursday, dismissing them as a “terrible” and “completely unacceptable” idea.
Watch:
Office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
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