Ex-football stars prod DeSantis to bring vaccine to the Glades

After cutting the poverty-torn Glades area out of the state’s coronavirus vaccination program, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday enlisted the help of Pahokee-born NFL great Anquan Boldin to announce the oversight had been corrected.

As cars streamed through a hastily created vaccination site at the Pahokee High School football stadium that bears Boldin’s name, DeSantis said up to 500 people would be vaccinated at the drive-thru on Wednesday and more shots would be coming.

DeSantis credited Boldin and a fellow Pahokee football standout, Florida Lottery Secretary John Davis, for pushing him to act.

Boldin contacted Davis to explain that when DeSantis made Publix the go-to place for shots in Palm Beach County, Glades area seniors were left with little chance of getting the vaccine. The closest Publix to the sprawling predominantly Black farming community is about 30 miles away.

“John came to me and said, ‘Is there anyway we can make it happen?' ” DeSantis said, recalling the conversation he had with the former Florida State University safety. “I’m like, ‘We need to make it happen.’ ”

Publix stores with pharmacies in Palm Beach County

►NOTE: Click on dark green circles for Publix addresses. Light green circles represent a one-mile radius around those Publix's.

►SOURCE: Publix

►CREATED by: Chris Persaud, The Palm Beach Post

The push to get vaccines for the Glades was an all-out effort. The mayors of Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay and agricultural leaders appealed to DeSantis. County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay publicly blasted the governor.

ButBelle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson said the involvement of Boldin and Davis was key. They not only helped convince DeSantis to ship vaccines to the often overlooked area but will give doubting seniors confidence that the shots are safe.

“It’s huge,” Wilson said. “They’re icons in the community.”

In addition to the drive-thru site at the high school, Wilson said another 500 people over age 65 will be vaccinated Friday at the Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center in Belle Glade. Another 100 vaccines are to be given next week at a still undetermined location, he said.

Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the county’s state-run health department, has said she would continue to dispatch teams to the Glades as seniors sign up for appointments.

Unlike other areas of the county, where seniors are clamoring for the vaccine, many in the Glades are dubious. Wilson said he was hoping enough seniors would sign up so all the vaccines would be administered.

He said he was appealing to seniors to think of others. “We want to get the seniors out of the way so we can begin vaccinating younger people,” Wilson said. “The longer we wait, we make it hard for the other folks who need it as well.

With state numbers showing a stark racial divide in those who have received the vaccine, DeSantis said other efforts are underway to increase minority participation in the vaccination program.

Vaccines have been offered at 25 mostly Black churches across the state, he said. This week, an additional 30 places of worship, including several synagogues, will be given shots for their elderly congregants, he said, although no list was available.

Of the 1,367,011 people who have received the first dose of the two-shot vaccine statewide, only 4.8% are Black and 7.2% are Hispanic, according to Wednesday's report from the Florida Department of Health. 

Blacks represent about 17% of the state's population while Hispanics account for roughly 21%.

In Palm Beach County, the divide is even more pronounced. Only 2.5% of the 139,520 people who have received one dose are Black and 3.1% are Hispanic, state health officials said. Like the state, that is far below their share of the county's population.

While Publix doesn't have stores in many rural and poor communities like the Glades, DeSantis said the company has been a good partner. 

More:Vaccines pouring back into Palm Beach County after Publix snafu

He dismissed the notion that Publix was selected because the supermarket chain is a reliable donor to him and other Republican candidates and causes.

Publix donated $150,000 to DeSantis' 2022 campaign war chest . Four of those $25,000 checks were sent in December.

"The thing Publix offered us was being able to get into medium-sized communities with high elderly populations that didn't have as strong as hospital systems," he said.

Further, he said, the federal government this week pledged to send 1 million doses to 6,500 retail pharmacies — such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart — across the country beginning Feb. 11.

While it's unclear how many doses stores in Florida will receive, that too will increase the number of people who get vaccinated and increase the availability in low-income areas, DeSantis said.

Standing in front of a “Seniors First” sign that defines his approach to the distribution program, DeSantis said that others, including teachers and law enforcement officers, would eventually be given the chance to get vaccinated.

But, since less than 25% of the state’s 4.5 million seniors have received the first shot of the two-dose vaccine, it will be awhile before he said he will announce who will be next on the state’s priority list.

Seniors, along with healthcare workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities, were given first priority. The data is clear: The virus is more likely to be deadly to those over the age of 65.

More:Under 65 with health problems? It might be your turn for a vaccine

The state’s distribution program has been hamstrung by the limited number of vaccines it has received from the federal government, DeSantis said.

After receiving about 260,000 initial doses a week for most of January, the state's allotment this week was increased by about 40,000 to 307,000.

"The demand far exceeds the 307,000," DeSantis said.

Once Johnson & Johnson gets approval for its one-shot vaccine, DeSantis said, he is hopeful that supplies will increase dramatically. It is expected to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration soon.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of seniors in Palm Beach County and those in 20 other counties in the state awoke before dawn on Wednesday to try to snare an appointment at one of roughly 350 Publix stores that are offering vaccines.

Some 41,000 people were successful, said Maria Brous, spokesperson for the Lakeland-based supermarket chain. She said she didn’t have a breakdown showing how many people in Palm Beach County had landed appointments. Sixty-seven stores in the county are offering the vaccine.

The website, which has frustrated seniors, will again be open to accept appointments on Friday, she said.

But, to accommodate those who complained about the 6 a.m. start time,  the appointment window will open at 7 a.m., she said.

Both Davis and Boldin thanked DeSantis for sending shots to the Glades. Both said they haven't forgotten their roots.

"It's good to be back in the muck," Davis said of the soil that makes the area rich for farming.

"Out in the Glades, we often feel we're forgotten," said Boldin, who has been involved in various community causes since retiring from the NFL in 2017. "My job is to make sure the people out here are taken care of."

jmusgrave@pbpost.com

WHERE YOU CAN GET A SHOT  

Publix will take appointments Friday starting at 7 a.m. The grocery giant will schedule vaccine appointments only through its website: 

www.publix.com/covid-vaccine/florida 

No walk-ins accepted, and appointments cannot be made by calling the stores or pharmacy departments. For appointments, these are the web browsers recommended: Apple Safari (latest version), Google Chrome (latest version), Internet Explorer (v11), Microsoft Edge. Firefox is not recommended.  

Seniors can also register with the health care district, and with the health department on a new website the state launched last week. 

But, unlike the Publix appointments, the sites offered by the state and the health care district won’t immediately result in a scheduled vaccine. They are waiting lists.