How Jacksonville will give COVID-19 vaccines starting Monday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The health department of Duval County will start administering Moderna COVID-19 months vaccines to anyone aged 65 and over, as well as health workers, lucky enough to get an appointment on the first day.

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, it took less than 90 minutes for the rest of next week’s appointments to be completed.

The vaccines will be administered at the Prime Osborn Convention Center and 500 meetings have been scheduled for 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 individuals 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 also 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.

Many who were able to book appointments online hoped to receive a confirmation email or text confirmation, but Samantha Epstein of 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 want to thank the community for their patience as we continue to work to make this process more efficient, ”she wrote on News4Jax on Friday, adding these notes about booking appointments, which she hopes to reopen next 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. Residence is not required, 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, FDOH-Duval’s medical executive director. “We offer it for free, so even if you are not a Duval resident, you may 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 definitely serve anyone in any county. “

RELATED: COVID-19 Vaccine in Northeast Florida: What We Know by County

Some callers received the message sent by the health department, then received a busy busy signal or the call ended abruptly. Many callers have received a message that the call cannot be completed or that the line is no longer working. Officials asked for patience and keep trying.

“If you are over 65 and trying to make an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine, the Duval County Health Department says the phone lines are working and please call 253-1140 again,” the city wrote on Wednesday. on Facebook. “We receive a large volume of calls, so callers may not pass immediately. We ask callers to take care of us as we try to reach each person. Every meeting matters to us. “

News4Jax has heard from dozens of people frustrated by the inability to pass. A health worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said she could book an appointment after calling 950 times over a two-hour period.

“I made a plan ahead of time,” she said. “I had two cell phones and my business phone installed on my computer and I started calling a few minutes before 8 in the morning and I continued to run systematically through each phone.”

When it came how fast the programming could do:

“The call itself probably lasted about a minute,” she said. “Set up the meeting and that was it.”

The healthcare worker says that he has direct contact with potential patients with COVID-19 every day.

“Within our organization, we had several people who die secondary with complications with COVID. And I have an older family member who lives in my house and having the opportunity to get vaccinated for me and ultimately for him is important and I know it will help us protect ourselves, ”she said.

Frontline workers at local hospitals began receiving gunshots two weeks ago at UF Health Jacksonville, followed by other medical centers. CVS and Walgreen are currently working with the state to vaccinate staff and residents at long-term care facilities.