COVID-19 vaccinations begin Monday in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health in Duval County on Monday will begin giving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to anyone 65 and older and to health professionals who could get an appointment.

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 schedule went live just after 5 p.m. on Thursday, it took less than 90 minutes for the rest of this week’s appointments to be completed.

The vaccine will be given 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 individuals are required to wear a face mask at all times and maintain 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 limit queues 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.

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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 its patience as we continue to work to make this process more efficient, ”she wrote to News4Jax on Friday.

She added these comments about booking appointments, which they hope to reopen this 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’s provided by the federal government, ”said Dr. Pauline Rolle, the medical director for the State Department of Health in Duval County. “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. “