ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues in Florida, the state is expanding its eligibility requirements to get the shot.
But one site in Orange County is operating on its own timeline, offering vaccines to people age 40 and up starting Monday.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced this week that the Orange County Convention Center would be offering vaccines to younger Floridians after he says he saw demand at the site decrease. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the site can administer 3,000 COVID-19 doses a day but doesn't regularly hit that mark.
This goes against the state's guidelines. Florida is currently offering vaccines to people age 60 and up, residents and staff of long-term care facilities, healthcare workers with direct patient contact, teachers, first responders and people deemed extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to lower that age requirement to 50 on Monday.
During a press conference Friday, the governor was asked what he thought about Mayor Demings' choice to expand.
"It’s not his decision to make," DeSantis said.
The governor added that Orange County was below the state average of seniors vaccinated and that trying to vaccinate "healthy 40-year-olds" over seniors is not the direction he would go.
"I am unapologetic for making a decision in the best interest of my county. Before I made my announcement that lowered the vaccine eligibility age to 40, we notified the Florida Department of Emergency Management and followed up with a letter," Mayor Demings told 10 Tampa Bay in a statement. "I was elected to work on the behalf of the citizens of Orange County and I take that responsibility seriously. In my judgement [sic], due to the depressed demand at the Convention Center, lowering the age was the right thing to do."
DeSantis Press Secretary Cody McCloud also responded, writing in a statement "local officials are expected to follow the parameters of the governor's executive orders."
Floridians age 40 and up can visit ocfl.net/vaccine at 9 a.m. Monday to make an appointment.
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