Citing slowdown, Miami-Dade opening its vaccination sites to 40+ on March 29
Miami-Dade’s county-run vaccination sites will open to anyone 40 and over on March 29, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Friday, setting up a more permissive criteria than what Gov. Ron DeSantis has so far allowed.
The news still gives Florida a week to match — or exceed — Miami-Dade’s invitation to younger residents to get vaccinated. DeSantis on Friday said he was moving the statewide age limit to 50 and above on Monday and planned to continue lowering the age restrictions in the coming weeks. Levine Cava said county sites would also open to 50 and over on Monday, and would always be at least as permissive as the state rules.
Miami-Dade runs three appointment-only vaccination sites, at Tropical Park, Zoo Miami and the Homestead Sports Complex. People of any age can sign up for the waiting list at miamidade.gov/vaccine.
Levine Cava is the second mayor of a large county to announce its own age restrictions, breaking away from the state rules that had previously set the standard for most local sites. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Thursday that the county-run vaccination site at the local convention center would vaccinate anyone 40 and over starting Monday.
DeSantis pushed back against Demings in remarks at a morning press conference, held before the Levine Cava announcement.
“It’s not his decision to make,” the governor said. “There’s a structure in the state of Florida in terms of how these decisions are made.”
At a morning briefing with county commissioners, Levine Cava laid out her own plan to open county sites to all adults by the middle of April. She said the county age limit would drop by 10 years every seven days, which would make it 20 and above on April 12.
President Joe Biden has called for states to make vaccines available to all adults by May 1.
A combination of state sites (Hard Rock Stadium, Marlins Park) and federally supported sites (Miami Dade College North), hospitals, pharmacies and the county’s sites are vaccinating about 18,000 people per day, according to state figures. That’s more than double the 8,500 vaccination daily pace set a month ago. The pace began hitting a plateau about a week ago, and walk-up sites at MDC North and federal-supported neighborhood locations reported less turnout than in prior weeks.
“I believe we have reached a turning point in our vaccination efforts,” Levine Cava said. “We need to aggressively expand vaccine eligibility to more adults. ... It’s critical that no available vaccines go unused.”
At the briefing, Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz cautioned Levine Cava, the first Democrat elected mayor in 20 years, against breaking with DeSantis, the state’s top Republican, on vaccination strategy.
“Let’s be very cautious,” said Diaz, a Republican and DeSantis ally. “He is the governor.”
Starting Monday, people eligible for the vaccine in Florida include anyone 50 and older. Previous additional state criteria remain in effect, too: healthcare workers with direct patient contact, long-term care facility residents and staff, and anyone deemed by a physician to be “extremely vulnerable” to COVID-19 because of a preexisting medical condition.
DeSantis hasn’t lowered the age restrictions for teachers, school staff and childcare workers. Pre-K-12 school personnel, no matter their age, can get vaccinated at county-run sites and pharmacies participating in the federal vaccine program. Those include Publix, Walmart, Winn-Dixie and CVS.
The federally supported vaccination centers — MDC North and walk-up satellite sites in Charles Hadley Park in Liberty City and the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay — also offer vaccinations for pre-K-12th grade teachers, school staff and childcare workers of any age.
Miami Herald staff writer Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 10:20 AM.
