As Florida continues to expand COVID-19 vaccinations for seniors in the general public, those representing assisted living facilities continue to voice concerns that residents aren’t being scheduled for the vaccine for weeks.

Those living in long-term care are among the country’s most vulnerable population. The latest numbers from the state now show more than 8,300 deaths for those either living or working in LTC facilities. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis initially said both nursing homes and assisted living facilities would be given vaccine priority. But as Spectrum Bay News 9 has reported, many facilities are still waiting to get on the schedule with CVS or Walgreens, the pharmacies that partnered with the federal government to inoculate residents of long-term care as part of the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program.

While the federal government is running that program, states are required to authorize when the pharmacies can start vaccinating. DeSantis did not sign off on inoculations in assisted living facilities until last week, after vaccinations got underway in the general public.

Severine Petras is the CEO of Priority Life Care, a management company that runs more than 30 assisted living facilities nationwide, with five located in Florida. Petras said one of the company’s facilities in the Daytona Beach area was set to begin vaccinations this week, but CVS cancelled unexpectedly.

“I said this has to be a joke,” Petras said.  “How can one of the largest pharmacies in the country have a mess-up like this?”

When the company reached out to CVS, a representative sent back an email stating it was “not able to vaccinate ALF communities based on the priority level from the governor’s office.” 

Petras said the facility received a new vaccination date, but it isn't until the end of next week, meaning residents there won’t be fully vaccinated until the end of February. Petras said other facilities are scheduled even later.

“Some of the greatest minds in the world came together to end this pandemic by the use of this vaccine and you would’ve thought they would’ve used some of the greatest minds to make sure the rollout was as efficient,” Petras said.  “And that unfortunately has not been the case.”

Spectrum Bay News 9 has repeatedly reached out to the governor’s office, the Florida Department of Health, AHCA and the Florida Division of Emergency Management for clarification on the prioritization of assisted living facilities, but have yet to hear back.

In a news release Monday, DeSantis said he would be directing FDEM to “assume additional responsibilities regarding the administration of vaccines in Florida’s over 3,000 assisted living facilities, supplementing and accelerating the efforts being undertaken by CVS and Walgreens, pursuant to their agreement with the federal government.” 

However, according to the CDC’s description of the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, it’s up to the state to allocate the vaccines to the program in the first place.