COVID-19 vaccinations due to start Monday in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – The Florida Department of Health in Duval County on Monday will begin giving the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna to anyone 65 years of age or older and health professionals who have arranged an appointment.

A telephone line that opened on Wednesday to schedule appointments was flooded and failed to connect the vast majority of people who called, causing frustration and outrage. When online programming went live shortly after 5 pm on Thursday, it took less than 90 minutes for the rest of this week’s commitments to be fulfilled.

The vaccine will be applied at the Prime Osborn Convention Center, and 500 appointments have been scheduled for Monday. The department expects to escalate up to 1,000 appointments per day over time. Vaccines are free and a second dose will be needed to make it as effective as possible.

The health department has released this information to people coming to get vaccinated:

• All individuals are required to wear a face mask at all times and practice social detachment during the consultation.
• You will need to show a government issued ID.
• There are no restrooms available for use during consultation.
• Walk-ins will NOT be allowed.

Officials expect the appointment requirement to limit each person’s queues and waiting times. Filling out the consent form (available online) also speeds up the process.

There will be seven tracks created for people to arrive on time to get the vaccine. Then they have to wait 15 minutes to make sure that there are no adverse reactions. Health professionals will be there to monitor these people.

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Many who were able to schedule appointments online expected to receive a confirmation email or text confirmation, but Samantha Epstein, from the health department, said this will not happen, although they are working to make the process more efficient.

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

She added these notes about booking appointments, which they hope to reopen this week:

• We identified that people are making a lot of commitments online. Do not do this, as it blocks the system and takes away time intervals from others.
• Make sure to select a date and time before submitting your 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 range, the form will be deleted and you will not have an appointment.
• You will see a confirmation message (pop-up) after scheduling. You WILL NOT RECEIVE a confirmation email. Take a screen capture of the confirmation message to keep in your records, although this is not necessary to receive the vaccine.

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

Anyone aged 65 and over and any healthcare professional who has not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine can receive their first dose of the vaccine in Duval County. There is no residence requirement, although people are encouraged to get the vaccine in the municipality where they live.

“This vaccine is not limited by borders. It is provided by the federal government, ”said Dr. Pauline Rolle, executive medical director of the Duval County State Department of Health. “We are providing it free of charge and with that, even if you are not a resident of Duval, you can still be vaccinated through us, but keep in mind that other counties will be implementing your vaccination efforts, so we encourage people to be vaccinated in their own counties, but we will certainly serve anyone in any county. “