First interfaith vaccination site opens in South Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a new Florida vaccine site Thursday that will be located at the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center.

The governor was joined by Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez and a handful of other officials during the announcement.

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“What we’re doing is dedicating 1,500 doses a week, to be able to bring COVID-19 vaccines to seniors who may be homebound or may have difficulty traveling,” DeSantis explained.

The vaccination site is one of Florida’s first sites located at a synagogue. It will also be one of the first interfaith vaccination sites for seniors from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities.

Providing vaccinations at places of worship is nothing new in Florida.

“We’ve done 25 vaccine events at places of worship throughout the state,” DeSantis said. “And that’s vaccinated over 13,000 individuals.”

The new site will be the first vaccine faith event that incorporates multiple faiths.

“You’ll have folks from all walks of life, all different faiths coming together,” DeSantis added.

In Central Florida, DeSantis said that he wants to do more with the vaccination site at The Villages.

“Next week we’re gonna look at Hard Rock Stadium expansion, we’ll look at The Villages expanding and we’ll look at some of these places which have made an impact,” DeSantis said.

The Florida Department of Health reported 6,771 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,744,619 cases since the coronavirus pandemic began in March.

Florida also reported 203 new virus-related deaths Wednesday, raising the death toll to 27,472. This number includes the 453 non-residents who died in Florida.