Jacksonville is aiming for 10,000 vaccinations a day, but challenges lie ahead

In an effort to speed up vaccinations, the city said it will start administering vaccines at test sites as early as this week.

“We are working with the State Department of Emergency Management, which is preparing, probably this week – I don’t want to commit to that because it’s their operation – but they will probably rebuild the Regency state test site this week, at least in part. their capacity there will switch to a vaccination program that will add at least 1,000 per day, ”said Hughes.

The city also plans to vaccinate at the Mandarin Senior Center and the Lane Wiley Senior Center on the Westside. Hughes said COVID-19 testing at those locations will be scaled back and make way for vaccinations.

“There is no better way for us to get out of this pandemic than this vaccine,” said Hughes. “And the priority for us now is to get as many vaccines as possible to as many people as safely and quickly as possible.”

Part of the problem with the rollout of the new vaccine sites will be cold storage for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“That’s probably one of the biggest barriers to distribution,” said Hughes. “I wish I could have two or three people at the front tables. I wish I could throw an igloo cooler at them and say to them, “Hey, if someone comes up to them and wants to give it to them.” That’s not how this vaccine works. “

Councilor Ron Salem, the director of PharMerica-Jacksonville, a pharmacy that serves nursing homes, said he thinks it will be a while before members of the general public under 65 will get the vaccine.

“We have 125,000 residents in Jacksonville who are in that age group (65+). So even with four or five thousand people a day, it could be all January before we start interacting with other people, ”said Salem.

Then there are the challenges of getting more doses of the vaccine and scheduling appointments.

Phone lines crashed last week after thousands tried to call in to make COVID-19 vaccination appointments. The Duval County Health Department then began accepting online applications for appointments and slots that filled up in just over an hour.

Heather Huffman, the interim director of the Duval County Health Department, said Monday that part of the problem with the schedule is that the vaccine was released faster than the statewide reservation system that is still under development. This has resulted in each province having to devise an appointment plan itself.

Hughes said on Tuesday that the city is still trying to find out if there is a way to make appointments without a scheduling system.

It may be using certain days of the week. If your birth month is a particular birth month, then you are a Monday person. If your birth month is this one, then you’re a Tuesday person, or something that helps us manage the flow but doesn’t create a new layer of technology that could disrupt the process. “

For now, the Florida Department of Health in Duval County said new appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine will be added through the online system every Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

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

Anyone with questions is asked to call 904-253-1140, but appointments cannot be made over the phone.