Publix, CVS will accept vaccine appointments for people aged 50 and over

Before the planned expansion of vaccine eligibility in Florida, Publix already started accepting nominations for anyone aged 50 and over.

The supermarket chain began accepting these nominations on Friday, after Governor Ron DeSantis announced that it would sign an executive order making anyone 50 years or older eligible for the vaccine during a press conference in Tallahassee.

[Read the full executive order here]

“Since today’s scheduling event will be for appointments on Monday and Tuesday of next week, customers over 50 can book their appointments starting today,” a Publix spokesman said in a statement. to News 6.

The online booking system opened at 7am on Friday. As of 2:40 pm on Friday, most consultations across the state were fully scheduled, including locations in all Central Florida counties.

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The Publix vaccine portal opens every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 am at Publix.com/covidvaccine. Appointments must be made online.

All 730 Publix pharmacies in Florida offer the vaccine by appointment only.

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CVS will accept nominations for any Floridian over 50 on Monday. Anyone interested in scheduling an appointment with CVS should register at this link.

Walgreens will accept nominations for any Floridian over 50 years of age on Sunday. Anyone interested in scheduling an appointment at Walgreens should sign up at this link.

Winn-Dixie pharmacies also plan to implement changes to adapt to the new eligibility requirements.

“We are working with the State of Florida and the Florida Department of Health to determine best practices and implement changes to our current system to serve all eligible customers in this newly expanded age bracket,” Kaley Shaffer, The director of public relations for Southeastern Grocers said in a statement. “We expect these changes to be implemented in our process early next week and we ask our customers to be patient while adjusting to evolving eligibility criteria.”

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DeSantis said he hopes to open the vaccine’s eligibility to everyone soon after the expansion of 50 years or older.

“I think the demand has been relatively modest, certainly a lot more modest than it was at the end of December, when we were doing 65 And plus,” said Desantis. “So we think it makes sense and I think we’ll see what happens next week, but I think we’ll definitely be opening it up for everyone, certainly before May 1st and, maybe long before that, stay tuned there.”

The governor did not give a deadline for when eligibility would be open to everyone.

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