500 vaccinated against coronavirus at church in Tampa as state expands distribution

TAMPA – The vaccine registration website crashed just after it went live Monday morning in Hillsborough County, leaving the phone as the only option. But callers were on hold for hours, interrupted in the middle of a conversation, or completely abandoned.

And with just 9,000 doses of the coveted vaccine available, those living in Tampa’s most underserved communities have never prayed. But Sunday morning, the vaccine came to them.

The Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County administered 500 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to members of St. John’s Progressive Missionary Baptist Church in the College Hill neighborhood of Tampa.

It’s part of an effort by Governor Ron DeSantis to further immunize the state’s most vulnerable residents by partnering with community centers, churches, and other institutions that build trust.

“We really believe in making sure these vaccines reach all segments of communities and we believe working with our places of worship is one way to do it,” DeSantis said Sunday, announcing partnerships with 50 mainly black places of worship. in Tampa, Lynn Haven, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Jacksonville, Port St. Lucie and Tallahassee.

St. John’s is one of seven churches where the vaccine will be administered. All of the churches will help sign people up for vaccine appointments and help educate people on why they should get one.

The goal is 500 vaccinations per day at each site for people 65 and over. The state is expected to receive 250,000 injections of the two-dose vaccine this week, DeSantis said.

“No matter what issues arise in anyone’s life, you can still go to church on Sunday morning,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said Sunday. “So, what better place to be able to administer this vaccine, especially to those at high risk?”

The initiative comes as DeSantis faces criticism for conflicting messages or no messages regarding the state’s plan to roll out the limited number of vaccine doses available. Information his office released is incomplete and sometimes different from federal data. Journalists’ questions for clarity went unanswered.

Despite all the complications in Hillsborough last week, health officials distributed 9,000 doses of the vaccine, said Dr Douglas Holt, director of the Florida county health department. They had planned 1,500.

The extra doses were from Tampa General Hospital, he said – a welcome surprise, but one that exposed the county’s coronavirus call center limitations.

The county hired a new contractor to help answer higher call volume, Holt said. He predicted that 9,000 more doses of the vaccine would be available this week. Where and when has yet to be finalized.

“The vaccine supply is always the driving force behind everything,” he said. “Rest assured, no vaccine will remain. If he gets into this county, we’ll get him out.

Since December 27, the day that Florida counties received their first shipments of coronavirus vaccine, Hillsborough County has vaccinated 26,777 people, according to records. Of these, 3,869 received the second vaccine during the two-dose vaccination.

As of Sunday afternoon, health officials had administered the coronavirus vaccine to 558,326 people statewide, and 38,409 of them had completed the series of two injections.

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