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Florida chosen for coronavirus vaccine test program run by the CDC

Wednesday, August 12, 2020 (0 Comments)

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Florida chosen for coronavirus vaccine test program run by the CDC

By Christine Sexton

News Service of Florida Aug 12, 2020 11:52 AM

TALLAHASSEE — Florida, which has endured a surge of coronavirus infections this summer, will participate in a COVID-19 vaccine pilot program with the federal government but few details have been released about how it will work.

Florida has been invited to be part of a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine pilot group, state Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said Tuesday during a conference call with hospital officials. Rivkees said Florida was one of four states chosen to participate, along with the city of Philadelphia.

Rivkees said details for the pilot program “will be coming as vaccines become available,” but he did not explain further.

The Florida Department of Health did not respond to requests by The News Service of Florida for additional information. The CDC also did not immediately reply to requests for information about the pilot program.

As COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, spreads across the nation and globally, scientists around the world have raced to develop vaccines to slow the spread. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week announced the approval of a vaccine.

President Donald Trump’ on May 15 announced Operation Warp Speed, which aims to deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021. The initiative is targeting investments to the manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

The pilot program is one of the first glimpses into the Trump administration’s distribution plans. As reported Monday by Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, federal officials plan to conduct visits to the four states and develop models based on what they learn.

Public health experts believe at least 70 percent of the population must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, with officials fearing that demand will outpace supply.

The National Governors Association is recommending that state leaders begin to prepare. The association’s best practices committee on Aug. 3 issued a memorandum encouraging governors to get ready for distribution and included several policy recommendations to consider.

“Although a vaccine is not yet available, lessons learned from the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics suggest that governors may want to begin addressing the challenges of mass distribution before its arrival,” the National Governors Association memo said.

In addition to Florida, Rivkees identified Minnesota, California and South Dakota as the other states participating in the pilot program. But it appears Rivkees misspoke when he said South Dakota. North Dakota is participating in the pilot.

The North Dakota Department of Health issued a statement Monday saying it was chosen, in part, because the federal government wanted to explore vaccination distribution strategies to American Indian populations.