LTC 013-2021 UPDATE ON CITY OF MIAMI BEACH VACCINATION EFFORTSDocuSign Envelope ID: 025742A0-9F56-4101-BFAD-870E6BFC7995
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
LTC# 013-2021 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Raul J. Aguila, Interim City Manager
DATE: January 12, 2021
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CITY OF MIAMI BEACH COVID-19 VACCINATION EFFORTS
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide the Mayor and Commission with
an update regarding the coordinated actions the City of Miami Beach (“City”) is
undertaking to roll out the limited number of COVID-19 vaccines received thus far. These
vaccines are being distributed in accordance with federal and state actions and guidance,
with an emphasis on facilitating the inoculation of eligible seniors in our senior affordable
housing buildings as well as eligible homebound residents.
VACCINE AVAILABILITY
On December 23, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order (“EO”) 20-315
regarding vaccine administration. This EO directs all COVID-19 vaccine providers to
vaccinate three identified populations: (a) long-term care facility residents and staff; (b)
persons 65 years of age or older; and (c) healthcare personnel with direct contact with
COVID-19 patients. Hospital providers in receipt of COVID-19 vaccines are authorized to
administer vaccines to those individuals they deem to be at risk of exposure, which is why
the City’s first responders are being offered the doses in Phase 1 of the rollout.
Last week, the City received approximately 600 doses of the Moderna mRNA vaccine to
be administered to eligible seniors in our community. To date, there is no other
municipality in Miami-Dade County that has directly received vaccines for public
distribution.
In a meeting last week with both Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of
Health (“FDOH”), it was made clear that the supply of vaccine has slowed down, at least
for now. We have not received any notification that additional vaccines will be made
available to the City.
Staff has discussed at length options for a more formal, advertised, and targeted program,
and we are in the process of discussing the logistical support necessary if we were to
receive more vaccines. Additionally, staff have been reaching out to community and
religious organizations to coordinate possible locations for vaccination points of
dispensing (“PODs”) in the event we were to receive more vaccines. The City’s
Department of Emergency Management has also placed a request through the
appropriate emergency management systems for additional nurse capacity. This is
important for reimbursement purposes.
If we do receive more vaccines, we will need to further discuss what type of location works
best to safely accommodate eligible individuals. The Fire and Property Management
DocuSign Envelope ID: 025742A0-9F56-4101-BFAD-870E6BFC7995
Letter to Commission (LTC) – City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County Transit Partnership
Page 2 of 2
Departments are working to identify possible vaccination sites in the City. Additionally, IT
staff has worked with AT&T to add call capacity in the event the City elects to provide a
phone number for registration/scheduling/appointment purposes.
FACILITATING PUBLIC INOCULATION FOR THE ELDERLY
Throughout last week, the Office of Housing & Community Services and the
Transportation & Mobility Department continued to work together to support Mount Sinai
Medical Center’s (“MSMC”) vaccination efforts by continuing to provide free transportation
for City residents with appointments to and from the inoculation site at MSMC. This is
being accomplished using low-floor buses. Bus service was supplemented with Freebee
service, as needed. From the time service was implemented on December 29, 2020, until
Friday, January 8, 2021 (8 days of service), 235 seniors were transported to MSMC to be
inoculated. It is important to note that, as applicable to City residents transported by the
City to be inoculated, MSMC has limited eligibility to 50 patients per day, in groups of no
more than 13 at a time, and only from 7 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., Monday to Friday.
Housing & Community Services (“HCS”) staff have conducted door-to-door outreach at
Federation Towers, Rebecca Towers and Council Towers, and has been reaching out to
the managers of all affordable housing properties to identify eligible residents interested
in obtaining a vaccination.
In conjunction to the senior affordable housing vaccination effort, Housing & Community
Services and Transportation & Mobility staff continue to work together to identify more
eligible seniors who could be vaccinated at MSMC, and providing dedicated
transportation service.
The attached chart breaks down how the 600 vaccines obtained by the Miami Beach Fire
Department have been distributed, to date.
This availability and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines continues to be fluid and evolves
every day. Staff are doing everything in their power to ensure that we are serving the
most vulnerable members of community and will continue to do so.
RJA/ATH
DocuSign Envelope ID: 025742A0-9F56-4101-BFAD-870E6BFC7995
Date Provided Vials Used Projected Doses Actual Doses Doses Given Doses Unused Overfilled Remaining
01/06/21 9 90 105 105 0 17% 510 Doses
01/07/21 8 80 90 90 0 13% 430 Doses
01/08/21 8 80 90 90 0 13% 350 Doses
01/11/21 10 100 109 109 0 9% 250 Doses
Total 35 350 394 394 0 13% 42%
1/11/2021 6:18 PM
Vaccinations Report
120
109
105
100
100
90 90 90
80 80
80
60
40
20
0
01/06/21 01/07/21 01/08/21 01/11/21
Projected Doses Actual Doses