According to officials, Pinellas County administered more than 12,300 doses of the coronavirus vaccine as of Wednesday, including doses administered by the Department of Health, hospitals and employees of CVS and Walgreens pharmacies working in nursing homes in the area.
As Tampa Bay residents, in turn, wait until they can get a coronavirus vaccine, each country is working on its own plan.
Pinellas has had a slower spread than some neighboring states, but “we do not want to do it fast, we want to do it right,” said Tom Iovino, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County.
“We are starting from scratch,” said Iovino, noting that the province is still finalizing the details of its vaccination plans. “Once we have the information, we will be able to provide it.”
“We ask people to be patient,” he said.
According to Iovino, none of the vaccine doses received so far from the state have gone to waste. The province cannot break up the number of people vaccinated by profession, such as firefighters, police officers or health workers, just as it could not for the seasonal flu vaccine, he said.
Pinellas was selected as one of the first two counties in Florida to vaccinate residents of nursing homes. Among a province’s 68 facilities, 6,700 staff and residents were vaccinated, according to a media statement Wednesday from the health department.
The next priority is to draw up a plan for the general public aged 65 and older. The vaccinations are scheduled to begin on Jan. 5, Iovino said.
The province will use a booking system that allows individuals to plan a time in advance and “know that a vaccination awaits them,” Iovino said. The goal is to limit waste and ensure that those waiting in line are not turned away, he said.
People can register online and by phone. The phone number and website address have not yet been released, but are expected to go live in the afternoon on January 4. The priority for this phase is based on a person’s ability to get a booking slot.
Pinovas County has not yet received the vaccine for the vaccine phase, Iovino said, and is not sure how many doses it will receive. The province has not received a final vaccination plan from the state and only has access to the draft plan of the state that was published in October, he said.
The province’s health department is trying to place calls from the community and is working with Pinellas County Emergency Management officials to recruit additional operators due to the high demand for calls.
People calling the Pinellas Health Department today will be told that the plan is being formalized. When it does, the department will share information on social media and provincial websites and notify local media, faith communities and organizations such as the Pinellas County Urban League, Iovino said.
As more doses come in, the country will work with commercial pharmacies, doctors’ offices and clinics to become vaccination sites, he said.
The state publishes every day an updated number of people who are vaccinated per country. Pinellas County will not publish its own data separately.