FLORIDA — A Florida lawmaker is urging officials and hospitals to take steps to make the coronavirus vaccine available to some of the most vulnerable individuals in the state: People younger than 65 with underlying health conditions.

What You Need To Know

  • People younger than 65 who have comorbidities in Florida are elligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine

  • Individuals in that group, though, say they aren't able to find an appointment to get the shot

  • State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith is asking hospitals to allow second doses in reserve to be used immediately

Sandi Boggs says she looks forward to seeing her 12-year-old daughter grow up.

“I want to see all of her firsts,” said Boggs.

But with multiple sclerosis and diabetes, Boggs worries that if she catches the coronavirus it could kill her.

“For me, in my conditions, there is a better chance if I have to go into a hospital me not leaving that hospital, or leaving in a box,” said Boggs.

She says she’s tried and tried to get a vaccine. Her big problem is she’s not 65.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’s emergency order on vaccine distribution requires county vaccine sites to only give the shots to seniors over 65. It only allows hospitals to consider vaccinating people younger than that when they are especially vulnerable to the virus.

But Orlando Health and AdventHealth have said they can’t take new appointments for first doses of the vaccine.

“I don’t want to cut ahead in line, I just want to know why we dropped off the plan — the high-risk individuals,” said Boggs.

State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith says he’s heard from people all over the state in the same predicament.

On Tuesday, he sent a letter to hospitals asking them to reconsider holding existing vaccine stock only for those getting second doses.

“We’ve been urging the hospitals to use the limited supply that we know they have left to actually make a much larger impact for a vulnerable group of people,” said Smith.

And Smith is asking hospitals to come up with clear guidelines that will make it easier for people like Boggs to apply and get approved to get vaccinated.

“To establish public criteria for how they define comorbidities, who’s eligible and the process,” said Smith.

Without a shot, people like Boggs are stuck.

“We’re quarantined in our homes because we can’t go anywhere for fear this disease — because of our underlying conditions — could be lethal to us,” she said.

And until something changes, Boggs’s worst fears haunt her.

“I just don’t want my daughter’s last view of me to be when I’m being taken to a hospital and then there’s potential that she could never see me again,” said Boggs.