COVID-19 vaccinations will begin Monday in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health in Duval County will begin administering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to anyone 65 years of age or older and health care workers who have managed to make an appointment.

A telephone line that opened on Wednesday to book appointments was removed and failed to connect the vast majority of people who called, causing frustration and outrage. When the online appointment went into operation immediately after 5pm on Thursday, it took less than 90 minutes for the rest of this week’s appointments to be completed.

The vaccine will be administered at the Prime Osborn convention center, and 500 meetings will be scheduled on Monday. The department hopes to increase up to 1,000 meetings each day over time. Vaccines are free and a second dose will be needed to make it as effective as possible.

The Department of Health has provided this information to those who come to be vaccinated:

• All people must wear a face mask at all times and practice social distancing during programming.
• You will need to display a government-issued ID.
• There are no toilets available for use during programming.
• Walk-ins will NOT be allowed.

Officials hope that requesting appointments will limit queues and waiting times for each person. Completing the consent form (available online) will speed up the process.

Seven bands will be prepared for people to come to their appointment to receive the vaccine. Then you have to wait 15 minutes to make sure there are no side effects. Health workers will be there to monitor those people.

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Many who were able to book appointments online hoped to receive a confirmation email or text confirmation, but Samantha Epstein, with the health department, said it would not happen, although she was working to make the process more efficient.

“We understand that there are some questions and concerns about the online programming system. We would like to thank the community for their patience, as we continue to work to make this process more efficient, ”she wrote on Friday News4Jax.

She added these notes about booking appointments, which she hopes to reopen this week:

• I’ve identified that people make multiple encounters online. Please do not do this as it impedes the system and removes time intervals from others.
• Make sure you select a date and time before submitting the form. If there is no date / time range available on the form, do not submit the form. If you submit the form without a date / time interval, the form will be deleted and you will not have an appointment.
• You will see a confirmation message (pop-up) after setting the schedule. YOU WILL NOT receive a confirmation email. Please take a screenshot of the confirmation message to keep for your record, although this is not necessary to receive the vaccine.

The link to make an appointment – jax.readyop.com/fs/4cc6/8521 – will remain on duval.floridahealth.gov. People will be asked to enter their name, email address, phone number and date of birth to book their time. No insurance information required.

Anyone aged 65 and over and any medical worker who has not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine can receive the first dose of vaccine in Duval County. There is no residency requirement, although people are encouraged to receive the vaccine in the county where they live.

“This vaccine is not limited by limits. It is provided by the federal government, “said Dr. Pauline Rolle, executive medical director of the Department of Health in Duval County. “We offer it for free, so even if you are not a Duval resident, you may still be vaccinated through us, but please note that other counties will do their vaccination efforts, so we encourage people to be vaccinated in their own counties. , but we will certainly serve anyone in any county. “