FLORIDA — Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state is sending about 30,000 more vaccine doses to hospitals to help people under 65 with underlying conditions.


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The majority for people with serious underlying conditions are already spoken for.

Because it’s such a limited quantity from the state, the hospitals getting these vaccines for people with comorbidities are contacting those patients directly.

They hope soon enough, the quantity available will be enough to change that.

Sue Wilson has more than one underlying health condition, so she’s been on high alert since the start of the pandemic.

“I have a weakened immune system as part of it," she said. "Because of that, the COVID-19 is really a scary thing to think about getting, especially if you’ve already had lung damage or heart damage done from another virus.”

“The entire community has been scared for 11 months," said Dr. Scott Brady, CEO of AdventHealth Centra Care. "There’s not anybody that I know that doesn’t want one for themselves and their family."        

Brady said it’s encouraging to see the interest, but supply has to catch up.              

“That’s where the state said, ‘I’m gonna give each hospital system a little bit, contact your highest of high risk,'" said Brady.

AdventHealth plans to administer 500 doses specifically for people with comorbidities.

“Very, very high risk, like transplant patients, cancer parents on chemotherapy and immunosuppression, those kind," said Brady. "But even that 500 was not enough to cover everybody.”

Wilson says she’s just glad this group of high risk patients are starting to get their shots.

“I think there’s a lot of people out there that are not 65 years of age, too, that have a lot of health conditions that really require them to be protected," said Wilson.

Orlando Health has received 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and at the request of AHCA, they will be directed towards medically vulnerable patients being cared for at Orlando Health. Officials said they are working through logistics and timing in order to ensure an effective, efficient vaccination process.