PENSACOLA, Fla. – Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state was not expected to receive any more of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for at least two to three weeks.
But on Tuesday, DeSantis announced the state got an additional 42,000 doses of the latest vaccine to be widely available.
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DeSantis said the doses are set to be used around the state including at a new pop-up vaccination site at Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church in Pensacola that will administer 2,000 doses.
DeSantis said the Department of Emergency Management uses the one-dose J&J shot when it is knocking on people’s doors to offer the vaccine and for homebound seniors.
“So we’re hoping to get more Johnson & Johnson over the next couple of weeks, although right now, we’re not scheduled to get anymore but we weren’t scheduled to get any this week and they did trickle this,” DeSantis said. “My hope is that you start to get really significant amounts of Johnson & Johnson to match what we’re getting with Pfizer and Moderna.”
The state has not seen a significant increase in the amount of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines coming to the state, DeSantis said.
“We’re getting more than we did at the beginning of January, but we’re not yet getting, I think, what we probably had anticipated when we started planning this three months ago,” he added.
Despite the lack of an increase in supply, DeSantis said he expects Florida will open up vaccine eligibility to all adults “way before May 1.”
For now, only residents 50 and older and other select groups are eligible to get the shot.
