How Jacksonville Will Release COVID-19 Vaccines Starting Monday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County Health Department will begin giving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines Monday to anyone 65 and older and to health professionals lucky enough to get an appointment on the first day.

A phone line that opened to schedule appointments on Wednesday was flooded and unable to connect the vast majority of people calling, causing frustration and outrage. When the online timetable went live just after 5pm on Thursday, it took less than 90 minutes for the rest of next week’s appointments to be fulfilled.

The vaccines will be delivered at the Prime Osborn Convention Center, with 500 appointments scheduled for Monday. The department hopes to scale up to 1,000 appointments per day over time. The vaccines are free and a second dose is needed for it to be as effective as possible.

The health department passes this information on to people who get vaccinated:

• All persons are required to wear a face mask at all times and to maintain a social distance during the appointment.
• You must show government-issued ID
• There are no toilets available during the appointment.
• Running-in is NOT allowed.

Officials hope that demanding appointments will cut lines and waiting times for each person. Completing the consent form (available online) also speeds up the process.

There will be seven lanes where people can come in at their appointed time to get the vaccine. After that, they have to wait 15 minutes to make sure there are no side effects. Health workers will be there to keep an eye on those people.

Many who could book appointments online were hoping to get a confirmation email or text confirmation, but Samantha Epstein of the health department said it won’t, although they are working to make the process more efficient.

“We understand that there are some questions and concerns about the online appointment system. We would like to thank the community for their patience as we continue to work on making this process more efficient, ”she wrote to News4Jax on Friday, adding these comments about booking appointments, which they hope to reopen next week:

• We have found that people make multiple appointments online. Please don’t do this as it will bog down the system and take time slots away from others.
• Make sure to select a date and time before submitting your form. If no date / time slot is available on the form, do not submit the form. If you submit the form without a date / time slot, the form will be deleted and you will not have an appointment.
• You will see a confirmation message (pop-up) after the appointment has been made. You will NOT receive a confirmation email. Take a screenshot of the confirmation message to keep for your records, although it is not required to receive the vaccine.

The link to book an appointment – jax.readyop.com/fs/4cc6/8521 – remains at duval.floridahealth.gov. People will be asked to enter their name, email address, phone number and date of birth to book their time. No insurance information is required.

Anyone 65 and older and any health professional 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 province where they live.

“This vaccine is not limited by borders. It is provided by the federal government, ”said Dr. Pauline Rolle, the medical director of the FDOH-Duval. “We offer it for free and with that even if you are not a resident of Duval, you could still be vaccinated through us, but keep in mind that other countries will roll out their vaccination efforts, so we encourage people to get vaccinated in their own provinces, but we will certainly serve everyone from every province. “

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

Some callers received the outgoing message from the health department and then received a quick busy tone or the call ended abruptly. Many callers received a message that the call could not be completed or even that the line was out of service. Officials urged patience and to keep trying.

“If you’re 65+ trying to call for an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine, the Duval County Health Department says the phone lines are working and please keep calling 253-1140,” the city wrote on its Facebook page on Wednesday. “We get a lot of calls, so callers may not get through right away. We ask that callers be patient with us as we try to reach everyone. Every appointment is important to us. “

News4Jax heard from dozens of people frustrated by the inability to get through. A healthcare provider, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was able to make an appointment after calling 950 times in the space of two hours.

“I made a plan in advance,” she said. “I had two cell phones and my business phone was set up on my computer and I actually started calling a few minutes before 8am and kept on systematically scrolling through each phone.”

When it came down to how quickly she could make the appointment:

“The call itself probably took about a minute,” she said. “Make an appointment and that was it.”

The health care provider says she has direct contact with potential COVID-19 patients on a daily basis.

“A few people have died within our organization as a result of complications with COVID. And I have an older relative who lives with me, and having the opportunity to get the vaccination for myself and eventually for him is important, and I know it will help protect us, ”she said.

First-line workers at local hospitals began receiving their photos at UF Health Jacksonville for the first time two weeks ago, followed by other medical centers. CVS and Walgreen’s are currently working with the state to vaccinate staff and residents of long-term care facilities.