The Florida Department of Health in Broward County (DOH-Broward) is one of 67 Public Health Departments under the governance of the integrated Florida Department of Health (DOH). Although DOH-Broward is a state agency, it maintains a very strong partnership with Broward County Government, which is formalized in a core contract. The main administrative campus is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with additional facilities in geographically accessible locations. DOH-Broward is responsible for protecting, promoting, and improving the health of the county's 1.9 million residents and over 10 million annual visitors.
According to the U.S. Census population estimates for July 2021, Broward County is the 17th most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 million people and 9% of Florida's residents. 34.1% of residents are foreign-born. The population is increasingly diverse with significant growth among minority racial and ethnic groups. Among Broward residents, 63.1% identify as White; 30.2% Black or African American including many who immigrated from Haiti, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean, as well as Central and South America. 31.1 % of the population identifies as Hispanic or Latino. 37.5% of the population speaks a language other than English in the home.
In response to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, DOH-Broward provided in-school Pfizer - BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations to mitigate the spread within Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) including Elementary, Middle, High, Combination and Centers. BCPS is the sixth-largest school district in the nation and the second largest in the state of Florida. Each year, BCPS serves more than 256,000 students in 240 schools, centers, and technical colleges. BCPS supports a diverse student population, representing 170 difference countries, speaking 147 languages.
Upon approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to administer vaccines in children 12 and older, DOH-Broward met with BCPS to develop and implement a mass vaccination project within local schools. Through a collaborative planning process, DOH-Broward and BCPS met with all school principals to provide information regarding the project. The initial meeting covered vaccine storage and handling, logistics, and points of contacts for each location. The logistics of the project included designated loading areas for couriers delivering and picking up vaccines each day, space within each school equipped to handle registration, vaccination administration, and observation.
During phase one of this vaccination project (May 2021-July 2021, September 2021-October 2021), following the FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer - BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals ages 12 and over, DOH-Broward provided vaccines to students in all BCPS middle, high, combination schools and centers. Phase one consisted of two operational periods. During the initial 12-week period, at the end of the 2020-2021 school year (May 2021-July 2021), DOH-Broward provided 7,452 vaccines. During the following 7-week period, at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year (September 2021-October 2021), DOH-Broward provided 2,754 vaccines. During each period of phase one, DOH-Broward provided Pfizer - BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations at 35 middle schools, 32 high schools, 9 combination schools and 17 centers. Each period required administration of two rounds of the primary series of the Pfizer & BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, thus requiring DOH-Broward vaccination teams to return to each school approximately 4 weeks after the initial vaccination event. This initial phase was modeled in an expanded mass vaccination project (phase two) which provided vaccinations for students ages 5 and over upon the FDA EUA of the Pfizer - BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals ages 5 and over.
Phase two of this vaccination project (November 2021-January 2022, March 2022-June 2022) following the FDA EUA of the Pfizer - BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals ages 5 and over, DOH-Broward provided vaccines to students in all BCPS elementary, middle, high, combination schools and centers.
This phase consisted of two operational periods. During the initial 6-week period, DOH-Broward provided the Pfizer - BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at all 137 elementary schools. During the following 14-week period, DOH-Broward returned to all 137 elementary schools, 35 middle schools, 32 high schools, 9 combination schools and 17 centers. During both operational periods of phase two, DOH-Broward simultaneously mobilized vaccination operations at up to 13 schools per day.
The primary objective of this practice was to ensure equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine, without barriers, by providing multiple opportunities for BCPS students to receive this vaccine. DOH-Broward achieved this objective by providing COVID-19 vaccinations at each elementary school on 4 separate occasions, at each middle school on 6 separate occasions and at each high school, combination school and center on 4 separate occasions. At the conclusion of the project, schools were provided with current information on resources within the local community to receive additional COVID-19 vaccines.
DOH-Broward administered over 46,214 vaccines to students within BCPS through the successful efforts of this in-school vaccination project.
Webpage: Florida Department of Health in Broward (floridahealth.gov)