How Jacksonville Will Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines Starting 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 to healthcare workers lucky enough to get an appointment on day one.

A phone line opened on Wednesday to make appointments was flooded and failed to connect the vast majority of people who called, causing frustration and outrage. When the online schedule went live just after 5 p.m. Thursday, it took less than 90 minutes for the rest of next week’s appointments to be filled.

The vaccines will be administered at the Prime Osborn Convention Center and 500 appointments were scheduled for Monday. The ministry hopes to increase to 1,000 appointments each day over time. The vaccines are free and a second dose will be necessary for it to be as effective as possible.

The health service disseminated this information to people coming to be vaccinated:

• All people are required to wear a face mask at all times and to practice social distancing during the date.
• You will need to present an official ID
• There are no toilets available during the appointment.
• Walk-ins will NOT be allowed.

Officials hope that requiring appointments will limit queues and waiting times for each person. Completing the consent form (available online) will also speed up the process.

There will be seven lanes set up for people to arrive at their appointments to be vaccinated. Then they have to wait 15 minutes to make sure there are no unwanted reactions. Health care workers will be there to monitor these people.

Many who were able to book online appointments were hoping to receive a confirmation email or SMS confirmation, but Samantha Epstein of the health department said that would not happen, although they did. strive to make the process more efficient.

“We understand that the online dating system raises questions and concerns. 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 scheduling, which they hope. reopen next week:

• We have found that people book multiple appointments online. Do not do this because it takes away the system and takes away time slots from others.
• Make sure you select a date and time before submitting your form. If there is no date / time available on the form, do not submit the form. If you submit the form without a date / time, the form will be deleted and you will not have an appointment.
• You will see a confirmation message (pop-up) once the appointment has been set. You will NOT receive a confirmation email. Please take a screenshot of the confirmation message to be kept for your records, although it 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 65 years of age and older and any healthcare worker who has not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine can receive their first dose of the vaccine in Duval County. There is no residency requirement, although people are encouraged to get the vaccine in the county where they live.

“This vaccine is not limited by borders. It is provided by the federal government, ”said Dr Pauline Rolle, FDOH-Duval Medical Director General. “We provide it for free and therefore even if you are not a resident of Duval you can still be vaccinated through us, but keep in mind that other countries will be expanding their vaccination efforts, so we encourage them. people to get vaccinated in their own counties, but we will certainly serve anyone in any county.

RELATED: COVID-19 Vaccine in Northeast Florida: What We Know by County

Some callers received the outgoing health service message and then received a fast busy signal or the call was abruptly terminated. Many callers received a message indicating that the call could not be completed or even that the line was down. Officials urged patience and keep trying.

“If you are over 65 and trying to call for an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine, the Duval County Health Department says the phone lines are working and keep calling 253- 1140, ”the city wrote on its Facebook page on Wednesday. “We get a high volume of calls, so callers may not go through right away. We ask callers to support us as we try to reach each individual. Every appointment matters to us.

News4Jax has heard from dozens of people frustrated by the inability to pass. A healthcare worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was able to make an appointment after calling 950 times over a two-hour period.

“I made a plan in advance,” she says. “I had two cell phones and my work phone installed on my computer and I actually started calling a few minutes before 8 a.m. and kept going through each phone systematically.”

As to how quickly she could make an appointment:

“The call itself probably lasted about a minute,” she says. “Make the date and that’s it.”

The health worker says she is in direct contact with potential COVID-19 patients on a daily basis.

“Within our organization, a few people have died from complications related to COVID. And I have an older family member who lives in my house, and being able to get vaccinated for myself and possibly for him is important, and I know it will help us protect ourselves, ”he said. she declared.

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