FLORIDA
INTERIM COVID-19 VACCINATION PLAN
| E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y
Executive Summary - DRAFT
October 26, 2020
Introduction
The goal of the Florida COVID-19 Mass Vaccination plan is to immunize all Floridians and visitors who choose to be
vaccinated. Prioritization of vaccine recipients will be based on federal recommendations. Priority groups may vary based
on the vaccine(s) that are ultimately approved, vaccine availability, and the demographic groups for which the vaccine is
authorized. Achieving this goal will require partnerships between the Florida Department of Health (FDOH), healthcare
providers, and community-based partners. The FDOH is an integrated agency which includes sixty-seven County Health
Departments (CHDs) that will coordinate vaccination efforts within their jurisdiction with local stakeholders. The FDOH
central office is responsible for supporting and augmenting CHD implementation of the statewide mass vaccination plan.
COVID-19 Vaccination Planning Sections:
Section 3: Phased Approach to COVID-19 Vaccination
In Phase 1, a projected limited supply of vaccine will require the state to provide vaccine in a prioritized manner and
ensure that doses allocated to Florida are distributed to facilities that meet vaccine storage requirements and can comply
with data entry requirements. As additional vaccine becomes available, administration will expand to other priority groups
in closed point of distribution (POD) settings. Pro-rata allocations will be made to vaccine administration sites that can
adequately store, manage and administer the vaccine. The sites will be responsible for vaccinating individuals within the
established priority groups as instructed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As more vaccine becomes available, traditional vaccine providers, including pediatricians, primary care providers and
pharmacies will receive doses. It is likely that in this phase, the CHDs will open public mass vaccination clinics, and the
Department will collaborate with other state agencies such as the Florida Division of Emergency Management to establish
clinics in an effort to ensure equitable distribution of the vaccine; using a similar model that is being used for COVID-19
testing.
Once the vaccine is widely available and demand for the vaccine stabilizes, the state will transition to providing the
vaccine through routine health care delivery systems, including commercial pharmacies. CHDs will continue to offer
vaccine clinics that are open to all members of the public as needed to meet vaccination goals.
Section 4: Critical Populations
Planning efforts for Phase 1 have focused on the critical populations identified in CDC draft guidance documents as well
as identifying locations that can accommodate the time and dosing requirements laid out in the CDC Planning Scenarios.
The initial facilities that have been identified as meeting both requirements are hospitals, most of which have a large staff
and some level of capacity for ultra-cold storage. Once additional federal guidance is received, further prioritization
decisions can be made.
Florida has a well-integrated public health and emergency management system that allows the state to identify at-risk
populations and personnel across multiple disciplines, provide robust geographic information system (GIS) mapping
capabilities, and communicate with persons from various disciplines through an integrated emergency management
structure.
Section 5: COVID-19 Vaccination Provider Recruitment and Enrollment
Provider recruitment for the COVID-19 vaccination efforts officially began on Monday, October 5, 2020, when Florida
SHOTS (the state’s immunization information system, or IIS) became fully functional for COVID-19 enrollment. Florida
SHOTS allows for providers to be designated into identified tiers to be prioritized to receive vaccine while there is limited
availability of the vaccine.
FLORIDA
INTERIM COVID-19 VACCINATION PLAN
| E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y
Section 8: COVID-19 Vaccine Storage and Handling
Vaccine storage and handling procedures will abide by guidance in the CDC Vaccines Storage and Handling Toolkit
(https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/toolkit/index.html). Further guidance related to storage and handling of
an ultra-cold chain vaccine will be necessary as it becomes available. FDOH will require temperature reports from
providers prior to approving request for or distributing vaccine. Providers must upload temperature reports weekly into
Florida SHOTS and immediately notify the VFC help desk of any excursions.
Section 10: COVID-19 Vaccination Second-Dose Reminders
Florida SHOTS currently has reminder-recall functionality available for providers to recall their patient population and this
functionality is being enhanced to include COVID-19 vaccines. Provider-generated recall files have phone numbers,
physical addresses and email addresses and providers can choose which method they want to use to recall their patients
for the second dose of the vaccine. Reminder-recalls can also be run at the statewide level. The FDOH Immunizations
Section is exploring options for text message, post card and/or email reminders. Paper vaccination cards that will be
included in ancillary kit shipments will also be used.
Section 12: COVID-19 Vaccination Program Communication
The Department’s Immunizations Section has routine communication processes with providers that will be utilized.
Information for providers on how to enroll in the COVID-19 vaccination program will also be posted on the Department’s
website and within Florida SHOTS. Messages will be distributed through the efforts of FDOH’s Office of Communications.
Section 14: COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Monitoring
FDOH is in the process of establishing an agreement with the Florida Poison Information Center Network for serving as
the centralized call center for adverse event reporting, as was done in the H1N1 Pandemic in 2009-10. During H1N1, calls
to the Florida Adverse Reaction Call Center were reviewed by the State Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System
(VAERS) Coordinator and forwarded to the designated CHD in the client’s county of residence. CHD staff reviewed the
reports and used professional, clinical judgment to determine if follow-up was required. On a weekly basis, the State
VAERS Coordinator received VAERS reports through the CDC Epidemic Information Exchange (Epi-X) Network. The
report identifies self-reported severe adverse events, which were reported as: patient died, life threatening illness, short
term hospitalization, prolonged hospitalization and permanent disability. CHD staff followed-up on all severe adverse
events to determine if the client fully recovered, required ongoing medical care or could not be contacted. Reports related
to adverse events are generated and reviewed by the FDOH on a regular basis.
Section 15: COVID-19 Vaccination Program Monitoring
Florida’s process for monitoring will be as follows:
• Provider enrollment: Forms have been developed in ReadyOp, the FDOH’s planning and response platform, to track
appropriate metrics and ensure regular reporting related to the enrollment process. These forms can be sent to any
partner to obtain information.
• Access to COVID-19 vaccination services by population in all phases of implementation: Multiple maps will be
generated to visually describe provider locations throughout the state. Once vaccination begins, Florida SHOTS can
provide administration data (ZIP codes of patient population who receive vaccines), as well as provider location data.
The Department’s Bureau of Preparedness and Response has data on critical populations and accessibility index
scores.
• Immunization information system or other designated system performance: The Florida SHOTS team has constant
real-time monitoring of server performance and regular reporting capabilities, such as SolarWinds (performance
monitoring tool). The IIS has built-in programmatic alerts when errors are detected.
• Data reporting to CDC: Currently awaiting additional guidance from CDC as it relates to data reporting.
• Provider-level data reporting: Florida SHOTS has built-in reports to monitor provider-level data reporting.
• Vaccine ordering and distribution: Florida SHOTS has built-in reports to monitor vaccine ordering and distribution.
• 1- and 2-dose COVID-19 vaccination coverage: Currently, coverage reports can be run at provider population and
county level. More guidance will be necessary if additional requirements are needed.
