Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared at a Manatee County drive-thru vaccination site open to residents 65 and older who were able to snag an available vaccine slot.
"Today we're here to highlight the county-run vaccination site at Bennett Park," said DeSantis. "Here what you see is a very well run, very efficient operation."
Across Florida, seniors are finding it difficult to even secure an appointment on the phone or online.
DeSantis said Thursday that he has asked the federal government for more vaccine doses to alleviate the demand, but offered no timeline.
“We're gonna do significantly more shots this week than last week throughout the state as long as we get more supply and so that's the type of momentum that I think we want to continue,” he said. "Our goal is to get it done as quickly as possible."
On Wednesday in Miami-Dade, DeSantis said that next week Florida will get roughly 250,000 doses split between the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
"I have enough people telling me they can do more," DeSantis said at Hard Rock Stadium. "We want them to do more and so we’ve asked for more, and I think you’re gonna start to see really pop to scale very soon."
In response to the problems tied to reservations, Manatee County is implementing a vaccine lottery system. Seniors can register by phone or online. When vaccine doses become available, a randomized list of registered residents will then get an appointment.
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