Should Florida, with more seniors, get more vaccines? Congresswoman calls for a change

Florida Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy wants President Joe Biden to change the federal government’s allocation of COVID-19 vaccines to prioritize senior citizens, arguing that the current system of sending vaccines based on each state’s adult population is flawed.

“Seniors in America are the most likely to die or suffer severe health consequences from COVID-19 and therefore have the most urgent need for the vaccine, alongside frontline workers, educators, and individuals with certain underlying health conditions,” Murphy wrote in a letter to Biden and shared with the Miami Herald. “My request is simple and rooted in science: adjust the vaccine distribution formula to increase COVID vaccine allotments in states, like Florida, with disproportionately high numbers of seniors.”

The current vaccine allocation system, developed by the Trump administration, uses an algorithm to divide vaccines by state. While states like Florida with large populations get more total doses, the proportion of vaccines doesn’t change if a state has more senior citizens as a percentage of the total population.

States ultimately distribute vaccines allocated to them by the federal government. Some states have prioritized vaccinating seniors or people with underlying health conditions, while others have prioritized vaccinating certain workers like teachers to reopen schools.

Murphy wants the initial number of vaccines given out to states by the federal government to account for the number of residents in a given state who are 65 and older.

“This data is readily available from the U.S. Census Bureau and could be easily incorporated into the existing formula,” Murphy wrote.

She argued that Florida, where 20.9% of the population is 65 and older, would benefit from the allocation change, noting that only Maine and Puerto Rico have a higher percentage of their population above age 65. Other states that would potentially benefit from the change are West Virginia, Vermont, Delaware and Montana.

Murphy, who represents the Orlando area, said the change would be easy to make because it relies on census data that is already available. Her request comes as Miami-Dade County lags behind the state average in vaccinating senior citizens.

While about one-third of all Florida seniors have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the rate of vaccination for seniors in Miami-Dade County is only about 27.6%, according to Florida International University epidemiologist Mary Jo Trepka. Miami-Dade County leads the state in total known COVID-19 cases and deaths, with 387,940 cases and 5,062 deaths as of Feb. 11.

Florida’s vaccine distribution, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been criticized by South Florida Democrats who argue that the allocation of doses makes it harder for senior citizens and low-income residents to get a shot.

“We are not in the final days of this pandemic,” said Broward Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch. “We’ve now started the path forward toward getting out of this with vaccines but we need more information, clarity and transparency.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 11:30 AM.