The New Florida website allows people to virtually ‘queue up’ for COVID-19 vaccines

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida launched a new state website on Friday to streamline the state’s approach to distributing the COVID-19 vaccine, following the slow implementation of a state hotline earlier this month.

The website, myvaccine.fl.gov, allows full-time and part-time Florida residents to apply for the coveted vaccines in all 67 counties, placing them in a virtual queue until more doses are available in their area.

[TRENDING: Video shows deputy Tasing student | How to get the vaccine in Fla. | NASA tests new moon rocket]

Ads

“Pre-register now for the COVID-19 vaccine,” says the website. “We ask currently qualified Florida residents to save their place in the queue by pre-registering today.”

Currently, the state is vaccinating people aged 65 and over, residents and employees of long-term care facilities, health professionals with direct contact with the patient and individuals extremely vulnerable to the virus.

“This website will allow individuals qualified to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to be contacted proactively when vaccination appointments are available at state-supported vaccination sites,” says the Florida Department of Health statement.

Vaccine supply remains limited and consultations may not be available for several weeks in some counties, warns the DOH.

Users will select their county and click on “enter the queue” before filling in some personal information to register. As soon as the appointments are available, individuals will be contacted by phone, text or email to schedule an appointment, according to the DOH.

Ads

On Friday, the DOH said that as part of the state registration system, each of Florida’s 67 counties has a designated phone number to call and pre-register. The complete list of numbers is available here.

Broward, Duval, Hillsborough and Lee counties began using a Florida Department of Health hotline to schedule vaccine appointments, following a promise earlier this month from Florida’s director of emergency management that an appointment system in the whole state would be coming.

However, the hotline and the state website may not be the best way to apply for injections from the local health department.

Volusia County, for example, is still in preliminary discussions with the state about the system, but has not yet started using the platform. Volusia County Emergency Management officials are encouraging people to continue registering on the county portal.

Ads

“Currently, individuals who register for a consultation through MyVaccine (myvaccine.fl.gov) are placed in a queue not managed by Volusia County and will not be contacted for a consultation,” said Emergency Management of Volusia County. Volusia in an update on Friday. “Individuals who wish to receive a vaccine through Volusia County must continue to register through Eventbrite or by calling the Citizens Information Center as additional vaccine events are announced.

It is unclear how this new system operated by Sharecare software will live with counties that are not using the state registration number. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said on January 22 that the county will continue to use CDR Health for appointment registrations and does not plan to use the state system yet for the Orange County Convention Center vaccine site.

Ads

Florida Emergency Management Division press secretary Samantha Bequer said it is an individual choice if someone signs up for the pre-registration system across the state.

“If a county has a system in place and decides to use the state system, the state will work with them to merge existing waiting lists,” said Bequer by email. “In the municipalities where they opted for the system, eligible individuals will be contacted to schedule an appointment when they are available in the area through the state system.

She said Florida is working with counties to ensure that existing registration systems can be coordinated with the MyVaccine website.