MIAMI — Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Wednesday morning in Manatee County, at which time he urged Floridians to be patient amid the delay in COVID-19 vaccine shipments.
“It’s not a great day in Florida weather-wise, but it’s a heck of a lot worse in a lot of parts of the country,” he said.
Snowstorms and icy roads up north have caused delays in shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine to Florida.
“Now we did get the vast, vast majority of our Pfizer shipment this week,” DeSantis said. “We received about 136,000 doses.”
The governor said the biggest delay is affecting the Moderna vaccine deliveries, which have yet to arrive.
DeSantis said he hopes those will come by Thursday or Friday.
The governor said the Moderna shipments typically come by Tuesday or Wednesday of each week, adding that that’s the reason some scheduled appointments may be delayed.
“Just have patience on it. There’s nothing we can do with the weather in other states,” he said.
Leaders in Miami, meanwhile, highlighted the race to get people vaccinated as the virus continues to mutate.
“We no longer are dealing with the original COVID. As we speak today, we are dealing with over 5,000 deaths in our community,” Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo said.
Monday marked the smallest single-day increase of new cases since late October, with two weeks of positivity rates under 10%.
“We have to remain vigilant,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said. “We have to continue doing what we’re doing.”
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