MIAMI (AP)-Florida is the only state not to order vaccines for COVID-19 for children pending their final approval from the federal government, Governor Ron Desantis said Thursday that he could not facilitate their distribution. but said it was available. to them whoever likes.
White House spokeswoman Carine Jean-Pierre, who confirmed in the outer state of Florida on Thursday, said pre-ordering vaccines could mean delays in their access to hospitals. children and other facilities dependent on state staff.
Florida officials said the pills are available at pharmacies and public health centers that can pre-order them directly from the federal government, and that pediatric hospitals and other clinics will be able to order them from the federal government through the state portal and receive them. fast. .
“Doctors can take it. Hospitals will receive it. “But there will be no state program that will try to send COVID to infants, young children and infants,” he said at a news conference. “This is not where we will use our resources.”
The final federal approval of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for ages 6 months to 5 years could take place next week. Vaccine consultants from the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday confirmed vaccines by the same drug company for children under 5 years of age, or about 18 million adults, and said the benefits of the vaccination were even greater. than any risks.
The Florida Department of Health does not recommend the vaccine for COVID for healthy children under the age of 17, but it says children with serious health problems should be considered candidates. This advice contradicts the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which currently recommends vaccines for everyone over 5 years of age, and says the vaccines provide strong protection against hospitalization and death.
In Florida, many drugstores and supermarket chains, as well as some public health centers, can pre-order vaccines directly from the federal government. Other locations, such as hospitals, have already benefited from pre-ordained staff from the state. However, they can also order them directly from the federal government through the Florida government web portal and receive their doses within days or weeks, Department of Health spokesman Jeremy Redfern said.
Pre-ordained staff means the Florida Department of Health will pick them up, send them to county-level health departments, and then to hospitals, Redfern said. Hospitals that use the portal will receive staff directly from the federal government, he said.
Redfern said “time doesn’t change” in an important sense. “It just cut the middle man.”
Jean-Pierre said at a press conference in Washington that parents can vaccinate their children through federal distribution channels at pharmacies and public health centers, “but these are limited options. . “
“We called many times to order vaccines for Florida,” Jean-Pierre said. Therefore, the state “will not have immediate and ready access to some,” he said.
Source: Huffpost
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