CVS will begin giving the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida, expanding the options for people racing to get protection, particularly in the Hispanic community.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said 81 CVS Pharmacy, CVS Pharmacy y más, and Navarro Discount Pharmacy locations across Florida would get the vaccine, including 67 in Miami-Dade County.
Broward and Polk counties will get two stores each. One store will give vaccines in each of these counties: Collier, Escambia, Flagler, Hendry, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Manatee, Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Volusia.
DeSantis made the announcement Tuesday morning at the Navarro Discount Pharmacy in Hialeah, after weeks of criticism that Florida’s vaccine rollout was overlooking Black and Hispanic communities.
Each of the CVS locations will be able to do 100 shots a day. Scheduling of appointments could start Wednesday at https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine.
CVS joins Publix, Walmart and Southeastern Grocers, which includes Winn-Dixie, in distributing the vaccine through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.
This week, those four pharmacies have a projected allocation of more than 130,000 doses for distribution in Florida, said Kate Grusich, spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CVS would not release the exact locations until the scheduling website opens later this week. People without online access can contact CVS customer service at 1-800-746-7287. The CVS sites will be open to any Florida resident.
DeSantis has been widely criticized over a vaccine program that has left Black and Hispanic residents with far lower rates of immunization.
With about 2.5 million vaccines given so far, 10% of white Floridians have been vaccinated compared to just 4% of Blacks and 4% of Hispanics.
