PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Florida’s governor expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility on Friday signing an executive order that now allows doctors, nurses and pharmacists the ability to vaccinate people who are determined to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.
Under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ addition to the first phase inoculation plans for Floridians, Executive Order 21-46 states that persons deemed by a physician to have a high-risk medical condition will now be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine at doctors’ offices and pharmacies.
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Previously, providers could order the vaccine in hospitals for people under the age of 65.
The amended order says that the first phase of vaccine administration included persons 65 and older, long-term care facility resident and staff and frontline health care workers. That remains, but additionally “physicians, licensed under Chapter 458 and 459, Florida Statutes, may vaccinate persons whom they decide are at risk of contracting COVID-19.”
The order additionally gives registered nurses and pharmacists the administer the inoculation after a physician’s determination.
Those considered high-risk by a doctor and over the age of 18 can be prescribed a COVID-19 vaccine and will be able to get the shot at a pharmacy such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Winn Dixie, Publix, and CVS. The executive order does not include the state and county-run vaccination sites.