BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – More than 200,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been delayed arriving in Florida due to winter weather causing havoc across most of the country and some of those shipments were bound for Central Florida.
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health in Brevard County said two recent shipments of the vaccine were delayed due to weather. A historic snowstorm earlier in the week brought heavy snow from Seattle to Texas and into the Great Lakes region, nearly 75% of the country has snow on the ground.
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The good news is that for people with vaccine appointments, officials with the DOH in Brevard do not believe they will need to reschedule.
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“Our recent shipment of second doses was delayed by three days and this week’s shipment of first doses will be delayed until next week. Neither delay is expected to affect scheduled appointments,” a DOH spokesperson said via email.
Other surrounding Central Florida counties have also seen their vaccine shipments delayed, including Flagler and Polk counties.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday weather conditions across the U.S. are impacting vaccine shipments to Florida but assured that the state health department is providing regular updates to its partners “to ensure the vaccine is distributed as efficiently as possible as it arrives.”
The governor said about 200,000 doses were delayed this week but are expected to arrive by this weekend.
Publix did not reopen its vaccine portal for Florida counties Wednesday due to supply delays. The grocery store chain said appointments that were already scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday will not be impacted.
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