Regency Mall to Become Jacksonville State’s Only COVID-19 Vaccination Site

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The COVID-19 test site at Regency Square Mall in Jacksonville became a vaccination site in the state of Florida on Wednesday morning, as it will continue to be Jacksonville’s largest test site. After this week, it will be the only Jacksonville state-run vaccination site for the first doses.

Mayor Lenny Curry announced on Wednesday that he learned that the Duval County Health Department will stop giving the first doses of the vaccine at the end of this week at the Prime Osborn Convention Center and will not make any additional appointments for this site. All state vaccinations will be given to Regency.

Prime Osborn will remain open for second doses for those receiving their first dose there, according to the Department of Health.

The queue was unusually long at Regency on Wednesday morning due to computer problems preventing the site from opening early in the morning, an official from the Florida Association of Public Information told News4Jax.

According to the Emergency Management Division, appointments to get a shot at Regency can be made starting Wednesday by calling 866-200-3762. An online system is also in preparation but not yet ready.

“Rather than wait for the online system to be ready, we started with this so that we could vaccinate as many people who wanted as quickly as possible,” the Florida Association of Public Information Officers told News4Jax.

RELATED: County-by-county plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccine

People who are eligible for the vaccine include people 65 years of age and older or someone working in health care. People requesting a vaccine must also be a Florida resident, the Emergency Management Division wrote on Twitter.

Vaccines and tests will be available on the Regency site from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week.

The phone appointment system works like a queue, where you call and then someone will call you back to schedule you based on your place in the queue.

“As of this morning, there were over 1,000 people in the queue yet to be called,” said the Florida Association of Public Information Officers. “They can also make an appointment for the days to come.”

If we get a vaccine, we ask people to come into the Sears entrance. The toilets are not accessible to the public and a face mask must be worn that covers the nose and mouth.