Vaccination in the first place, the first time, COVID-19 starts in two senior centers in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. As of Monday, residents of Duval County, age 65 and older, leading medical workers and first responders may be able to be vaccinated for COVID-19 at two Jacksonville senior centers – not by appointment but by birth month.

Vaccinations are still given by appointment at the Prime Osborn Conference Center, but demand for appointments has exceeded supply – which is likely to continue in the near future. In response, the city announced last week that it was converting senior centers in Mandarin and on the west side of COVID-19 test sites to places to receive the vaccine.

Slowly but surely, the distribution plans for vaccine are expanding to different sites in the city and state.

“If you look this week, we’re taking 50 to 60,000 shots in the state of Florida,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis. “We’re going to do a lot more if we get more vaccines.”

Although more vaccines are available, doctors in the area say this process needs to be more organized.

“There is no coordinated plan to vaccinate 800,000 people from a priority perspective, and there is no justice in the system,” said Dr. Jeffery Goldhagen, head of community pediatrics at UF Health, said.

All patients must provide a photo ID showing their date of birth and proof that you live in Duval County. First responders and health care workers should also bring a work badge.

Although vaccinations are given on a first-come, first-served basis (no appointment required), eligible residents should only visit a vaccination site on the day associated with their month of birth, based on the following schedule :

• Monday – January and February
• Tuesday – March and April
• Wednesday – May and June
• Thursday – July and August
• Friday – September and October
• Saturday – November and December

These two vaccination sites will be open from Monday to Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm:

• Mandarin Senior Center, 3848 Hartley Road
• Lane Wiley Senior Center, 6710 Wiley Road

Between the two sites, the city hopes to vaccinate just under 1,000 people each day with the Pfizer vaccine – Mandarin will deliver 500 vaccines a day, while according to the city, up to 475 vaccines will be distributed at Lane Wiley. When the daily supply is depleted, the remaining patients have the option to return the following week on their allotted day or make an appointment with the Florida Department of Health for the Prime Osborn location.

Upon receipt of the vaccine, patients should remain on site for at least 15 minutes to monitor for possible reactions by healthcare and emergency personnel. Based on the medical history, some individuals may be expected to wait 30 minutes. Although allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine are rare, the city said, this safety measure is in place due to an abundance of caution. Patients can tune in to receive email and SMS reminders about their second dose.

Prime Osborn is still just an appointment, but doctors believe these three sites and hospitals will not be enough.

“The idea that we will depend on them to implement our vaccine campaign is simply not a viable plan to vaccinate 800,000+ people and do it fairly,” Goldhagen said.

Goldhagen said there should be plans for primary schools, health, community and emergency surgery centers to prepare to distribute the vaccine for when the stock becomes available.

“In minority and low-income communities, in the same context that we have a food desert, we also have pharmacy deserts,” he said.

Pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens may soon have distribution plans, while DeSantis said announcements regarding distribution at Publix locations would come soon.

To help with a safe and organized vaccination process, patients must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Masks must be worn at all times.
• The physical distance requirements must be met at all times.
• Individuals who feel ill should not go to a vaccination site.
• Patients must be in line no later than 18:00
• Only caregivers may accompany patients who need help to a vaccination site.
• Patients must park in the designated parking areas; patients cannot be downloaded.
• Parking and overnight waiting in the queue were not allowed.
• Patients should follow traffic patterns and instructions from traffic monitors (is a map available at JaxReady.com/Virus?).

Patients must push and bring a completed DOH vaccine examination and consent form to the vaccination site. The form is available at COJ.net/CovidVaccineForm.

The state Department of Health in Duval County began vaccinating Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on January 4 to anyone 65 and older and health workers who could make an appointment.

New appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine will be added through the online system every Thursday at 5pm, the health department said. On Thursday, more than 400,000 people tried to get online to discuss the new appointment, which temporarily crashed the site. All appointments were booked within one hour.

The health department said the link would change every week and would be posted on the warning page on the department’s website: duval.floridahealth.gov.

For questions, citizens can visit JaxReady.com/Virus or call 630-CITY (2489) to contact a customer service representative.