Vaccination sites in the city are expected to close on Thursday as supplies dwindle

Vaccination sites in the city are expected to close on Thursday as supplies dwindle

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JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – Jacksonville will be forced to close two COVID-19 vaccine sites administered by the city later on Thursday if it does not receive more doses.

During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said city sites will run out of vaccine supplies by the end of Thursday, and it is unclear when those sites will be able to reopen. .

“We are ready to open more sites, if – if it is important – if supplies are available,” said Curry. “Please understand that the city of Jacksonville does not control the supply chain and what is available. Although the state of Florida determines who receives their weekly quota and how much, they don’t even know how much they will receive per week. “

Curry said the 8,000 people who have already received the first dose in one of the two locations will still be able to receive the second.

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Curry said the entire state received 275,000 units of the vaccine last week. The state is notified every seven days of how many doses of vaccine Florida will receive in the following week, he added, and that number has varied each time.

Leon Haley, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville, said he is facing the same problem.

“We will also probably be without a vaccine this week if we don’t get a second round,” said Haley.

Between UF Health’s hospitals in Jacksonville and Gainesville, Haley said, some 35,000 health workers and patients received at least their first dose last month.

Haley said the city is still firmly in the middle of the second wave of COVID-19 infections, but there have been some encouraging signs recently.

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As of Tuesday, there were 510 patients with COVID-19 in Jacksonville hospitals, 68 of whom were on a ventilator and 120 in intensive care units. As of Monday, there were 536 patients in total.

“So the good news is that we are starting to see a small change in the way hospitals and hospitalizations are taking place across the city,” said Haley. “The mayor mentioned that the positivity index in the city of Jacksonville is now 8.4%. This is good because only two weeks ago it was 15%. “

Monday marked the first time that fewer than 10,000 cases were reported in one day since December 28, when 8,198 cases were reported.

Curry said the state-run venue at the Prime Osborn Convention Center will still offer vaccines and that the state plans to start administering vaccines at the Regency Square Mall at some point in the future.

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