SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – As we wait for the first shipment of a COVID-19 to arrive in Central Florida, Seminole County leaders are already making plans to start vaccinating its most vulnerable residents, possibly as soon as Christmas Eve.
Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris said he is preparing for when Seminole County will receive its first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Harris said the second shipment could arrive in Florida in just a matter of days.
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“Right now the projection is that the second doses would come in somewhere around the 22nd or the 23rd,” Harris said.
Harris said Seminole County is expected to receive between 8,000 to 10,000 doses in the second shipment. He said they will use those shots to vaccinate the most vulnerable.
Harris said he created two task force teams made up of paramedics, nurses, and emergency management staff. The task force teams will go into 80 nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the county to vaccinate residents and staff who want to get the shot.
“We want to make sure this is seamless and done quickly. The state’s mission is to try to get all long-term care facilities accomplished in less than one month, so that’s going to be our goal which means we have a big task at hand, but it’s very important,” he said.
Harris said the timing all depends on when the vaccine arrives, but he wants his team to be ready to go by Christmas Eve.
“It may be a Christmas Eve, Christmas present where we’re going in and providing vaccinations to individuals in long term care facilities,” Harris said.