Jackson hospital, major vaccinator of Miami-Dade residents, to end first doses soon

As vaccination demand drops, Miami-Dade’s public hospital, Jackson Health System, is ending its four-month run as a key COVID vaccine provider in Florida’s most populous county.

As the rollout progressed from nurses and healthcare workers in December to the general public in January, Jackson became one of the largest vaccinators in Miami-Dade. After establishing three vaccination sites at its various campuses, the public hospital emphasized equity, attempting to reach Black residents through local churches and nonprofits.

Jackson initially required a doctor’s note for medically vulnerable people under the state’s age minimum, but it eliminated that barrier over concerns it would prevent people without insurance from getting a shot. More recently, Jackson partnered with local colleges to boost vaccinations for international students and offered walk-up access to accommodate people who don’t navigate the internet.

The hospital has been receiving 9,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine from state officials per week, In a press release on Wednesday, Jackson noted that 15% of the more than 167,000 people it vaccinated self-identified as Black and 54% identified as Hispanic. Going forward, the doses will be diverted to the county instead.

“In the first months, we were providing an overwhelming share of our community’s volume. Thankfully, coordination among federal, state, local, and private stakeholders has dramatically expanded access across Miami-Dade. As a result, we have seen a decrease in demand,” said Carlos Migoya, Jackson’s CEO.

He added that the hospital “is not finished with the pandemic. We are still dedicating substantial resources to treating COVID-positive patients in our hospitals, emergency departments and clinics.”

Hospital officials have previously cited the cost of running the three clinics, primarily through staffing. The hospital said it has anywhere from 250 to 275 people working per day, seven days a week, at its sites, and the program has cost $5 million in total.

Jackson will offer first doses through April 30 and second shots through May 21. The second doses will be administered at the Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson’s main campus, Jackson South Medical Center and the North Dade Health Center.

County to focus efforts on tourism and hospitality industries

In a letter to county commissioners, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava relayed the news about Jackson, saying the supply will now come directly to the county government.

“We will administer these vaccines to residents including the tens of thousands of people signed up on our pre-registration system with expanded daily vaccination efforts at Tropical Park, Zoo Miami and Homestead Speedway,” Levine Cava said.

The mayor said the doses would also go toward mobile vaccination programs for hospitality and tourism workforces, as well as younger adults. She said locations could include Miami International Airport, PortMiami, schools, malls , hotels and restaurants.

“Our community is deeply grateful to our partners at Jackson and the healthcare heroes who have gone above and beyond the call of duty for months to protect public health during this unprecedented crisis,” Levine Cava said in the letter.

Demand dropping across county

There are about 90,000 people still registered for vaccine appointments in the county’s waiting-list website, which can be found at miamidade.gov/vaccine, said Rachel Johnson, Levine Cava’s communications director. She said more appointments will be offered once the Jackson supply is available, with up to 1,000 slots possible daily, compared to about 450 per day now.

It’s unclear how many people on the county’s pre-registration list are actually still waiting on a vaccine.

Jackson officials said that demand had been dwindling for some time, both through the online portal and through its partnerships with non-profit groups and houses of worship. On April 3, the hospital did more than 4,000 shots, including 1,792 first shots, considered a very busy day.

On Tuesday, 17 days later, the hospital administered 1,376 shots, according to spokesperson Lidia Amoretti-Morgado. She added that the nonprofit and faith-based groups “didn’t express any concern or hesitation” when notified Jackson was ending its program.

The end of Jackson’s vaccination run coincides with a downshift of injections across Miami-Dade..

The latest data from Florida’s Health Department show daily vaccinations are down about 20% in Miami-Dade since a peak on April 12, when all county sites tracked by the state were administering about 31,800 vaccines per day. This week, that average is down to about 25,000 a day.

The drop-off coincided with the sudden halt in administering Johnson & Johnson vaccines nationwide on April 13 following a safety review launched by federal regulators.

While hospitals and Miami-Dade’s county-run sites rarely used Johnson & Johnson vaccines, they were mainstays at the large vaccination site set up at Miami-Dade College North by Florida and the federal government.

Miami Herald Staff Writer Douglas Hanks contributed to this report.