(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
By Anthony Payero
(LAKE CITY, Fla.) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Thursday that the majority of Floridians could be added to the eligibility list for COVID-19 vaccination by next month, ABC Action News reports.
DeSantis spoke from Lake City at a vaccination site in Columbia County where the facility is scheduled to receive 1,000 additional doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.
According to the governor, nearly 70% of seniors in Palm Beach County have received the vaccine. DeSantis said close to 3 million seniors in the entire state have been vaccinated.
The state will soon have the opportunity to lower the eligibility age for coronavirus vaccination as the demand for the shot from seniors continues to decline. DeSantis previously announced the age requirement will lower to accommodate those 60 and up beginning on Monday.
Thanks to the growing supply of vaccines, DeSantis said the state could lower the age again, much sooner than when he previously expected.
"I do think once we get into April it may be anyone that's eligible under the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization), we may just be able to open [the vaccine] up," DeSantis said. "We're not there yet, but we may be able to do that."
The state has not seen a surplus of doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, but DeSantis believes more shipments could arrive in the next few weeks.
"If the [vaccine] supply floodgates really open, we could be in a position sometime in April where it's just available, and people can get it, so that's really exciting," DeSantis said.