How Jacksonville will distribute COVID-19 vaccines, starting on Monday

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – The Duval County Health Department will begin giving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines on Monday to anyone 65 years of age or older and health professionals lucky enough to get an appointment on the first day.

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 the online schedule went live shortly after 5 pm on Thursday, it took less than 90 minutes for the rest of the following week’s appointments to be completed.

Vaccines will be administered 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 clues 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.

Many of those who were able to make appointments online expected to receive a confirmation email or text confirmation, but Samantha Epstein from the health department said that 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, and added these notes on booking commitments, which they hope to reopen next week:

• We have identified that people are making various appointments 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 screenshot 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 needed.

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 FDOH-Duval. “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 remember 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. “

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Some callers received the service message from the health department, and then a quick busy signal or the call ended abruptly. Many callers received a message that the call could not be completed or that the line was out of service. The authorities 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 keep calling 253-1140,” wrote the city in its Facebook page on Wednesday. “We are receiving a high volume of calls, so callers may not answer immediately. We ask the callers to be patient as we try to reach each person. Each appointment is important to us. “

News4Jax heard dozens of people frustrated with the inability to pass. A health professional, who preferred to remain anonymous, said she was able to make an appointment after calling 950 times in a two-hour period.

“I made a plan in advance,” she said. “I had two cell phones and my business phone set up on my computer and, in fact, I started calling a few minutes before 8 am and just kept calling systematically on each phone.

When it came to how fast she could make the appointment:

“The call itself probably lasted about a minute,” she said. “Make an appointment and that’s it.”

The health professional says he has direct contact with potential COVID-19 patients daily.

“In our organization, some people died secondarily from complications with COVID. And I have an older family member who lives in my house, and having the opportunity to get the vaccine for me and eventually for him is important, and I know it will help protect us, ”she said.

Frontline workers at local hospitals started receiving their vaccines two weeks ago at UF Health Jacksonville, followed by other medical centers. CVS and Walgreen’s are currently working with the state to vaccinate employees and residents of long-term care facilities.