A federal vaccination site in Jacksonville can handle 500 people a day. Only 29 were shot on Thursday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As more vaccines are available, demand in Duval County appears to be declining.

At a federal site in Jacksonville, with a capacity of 500 people, only 29 people were shot on Thursday.

Thousands of doses have been made available on new federal sites in Jacksonville, but so far only a third of that supply appears to be used every day.

On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the issue. He said the age restriction would be reduced sometime in March.

But right now there are people who do not meet the age requirement on sites that hope to receive the remaining photos.

With teachers of all ages eligible for the vaccine, there was a steady stream of people at the federal vaccination site at Gateway Mall, but only a handful of people on the two satellite sites in Jacksonville. This is one of the reasons why the governor will announce more changes in age requirements in the near future.

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“We will take an age-based approach in the future. It will happen in March. We’ll move age down. I do not have that exact date, because it depends on the vaccine offer and it depends on ensuring that we receive blows in the arms for the elderly “, said DeSantis.

He said more than likely that the required minimum age will drop from 65 to 60 and then drop from 55 and an announcement will be made later this month.

The announcement comes as the request seems to be softening.

On Thursday, on the Gateway Mall site, 840 shots were fired at a place set up for the administration of 2,000 vaccines a day. At the two satellite sites, 150 people were vaccinated at the Westside site of the Normandy Community Center on Lindsey Road, but only 29 people were shot at the location in northwest Jacksonville, at Hammond Senior Center. on West 12th Street. Each of the satellite sites has the capacity to take 500 photos a day.

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On the state website at Regency Mall, the latest issues on Wednesday show that 1,780 photos were taken at a site that can handle 2,000 first and second doses.

Edward Waters College can vaccinate 200 people a day and on Thursday administered 247 shots, as staff say it received additional doses from vials.

News4Jax spoke with Jacksonville health experts about the impact of lowering age requirements for the vaccine. An expert said that the younger population may not be so eager to get vaccinated.

“Is there a demand there?” Obviously, people like me, in the field of public health and epidemiology, want as many people as possible to be vaccinated. But it doesn’t mean those people want to get vaccinated for several reasons, “said Chad Neilsen of UF Health. “Maybe they have preconceived notions about the vaccine, maybe they are still not sure. But it’s okay. It means we need to start educating more. ”