Last week, Governor Rick Scott announced that $25 million in state funds will be authorized to support research to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus and enhance Zika testing methods.
Governor Scott said, “We must focus on finding a vaccine and enhancing our Zika testing capabilities to further protect pregnant women and their developing babies.”
The $25 million in state funding will be allocated following a competitive grant process by the Florida Department of Health. This funding goes directly to Zika research, including: expediting the development of a vaccine to prevent Zika infection; and the development of innovative, cost-effective Zika testing methods.
To date, Governor Scott has used his emergency executive authority to authorize $61.2 million in state funds for Zika, including $26.2 million in July, $10 million last week for Zika preparedness and preparation and $25 million today for research and development.
Florida has a Zika Virus Information Hotline managed by the Department of Health that can be reached at 1-855-622-6735.