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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite the city of Jacksonville urging people NOT to queue before 10am on Tuesdays, hundreds of people waited for hours outside the Mandarin and Lane Wiley Senior Centers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine is available Tuesday to seniors, health professionals and first responders with birthdays in March or April.
Both Monday and Tuesday, hopeful seniors began lining up before dawn at the senior centers, vaccinating 65-year-old and older Duval County residents and primary care personnel, not by appointment, but based on their month of birth.
Tuesday at daybreak, the queue snaked across the site with dozens of people six feet apart wearing masks.
“We expected there to be a long line, so we wanted to be first in line to get the vaccination,” said Arthur Llaga, a caregiver.
“With all my medical problems, if I got it, I would be dead, just like my husband,” said Terry Hill.
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Hours before the doors opened, 78-year-old Ray Gardner also arrived with his lawn chair in tow.
“I plan to walk a few more miles so this is a good way to do it and it’s easy, it’s great, you can get out and walk early in the morning,” said Gardner.
Monday, people started queuing at 5am at the Lane Wiley Senior Center on the Westside and the Mandarin Senior Center. The scene was similar on Tuesday, as seniors ignored the city’s request not to show up before the downtown parking lot opened at 10 a.m. and were allowed to queue early.
The city said on Monday that they learn by doing. They had said they would not allow anyone to queue before 10am from Tuesday – an hour before the doors open.
Only that was not the case in the beginning.
“Unlike many other cities, we will not be draconian. I’m not going to have police officers physically remove people or send seniors away, ”Mayor Lenny Curry told The Morning Show on Tuesday. ‘The rule is that you don’t line up before 10 a.m. It is not necessary. But the ones out there and doing it are doing it in a safe way. I understand people are worried they won’t get it, but again, we met all the requirements yesterday and we’re just going to continue working with people. “
At one point, people were given a ticket saying that they could come back later in the day if the queue would be shorter.
“They’ve made it a lot easier by doing it this way and so, so it’s good for everyone,” said Pat Brennan.
The city said there are nearly 1,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine available between both sites every day as efforts continue to vaccinate the most vulnerable.
Curry stressed that the supply is delivered to the state by the federal government and then to the city via the state. He said their first dose of doses was about 10,000 doses, and when all of those are gone, the city will have to wait for more supplies before providing more vaccines.
“The reason we asked the state to allow us to make distributions is because we have shown that we can get things to the people in a safe, efficient and responsible manner during COVID-19,” Curry said.
While vaccinations are given on a first-come, first-served basis (no appointment required), eligible residents are only allowed to visit a vaccination site on the day associated with their month of birth based on the following schedule:
- Monday – January and February
- Tuesday – March and April
- Wednesday – May and June
- Thursday – July and August
- Friday – September and October
- Saturday – November and December
These two vaccination sites are open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., although the line is interrupted at 6 p.m. or when the allotment for that day runs out:
- Mandarin Senior Center, 3848 Hartley Road
- Lane Wiley Senior Center, 6710 Wiley Road
All patients must provide photo ID showing their date of birth and Duval County residence. First responders and health workers must also bring a work badge.
Toilets in the senior centers are available after the building is open for the day.
After receiving the vaccine, patients should remain on site for at least 15 minutes to be monitored for possible reactions by healthcare professionals and rescuers. Some people may need to wait 30 minutes based on their medical history. While allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine are rare, the city said, this safety precaution has been taken with an abundance of caution. Patients can choose to receive email and SMS reminders of their second dose.
To assist in a safe and organized vaccination process, patients should adhere to the following guidelines:
- Masks should always be worn.
- Physical distance requirements must be followed at all times.
- People who feel sick should not go to a vaccination site.
- Only caregivers are allowed to accompany patients who require assistance to a vaccination site.
- Patients must park in the designated parking spaces; patients cannot be deposited.
- Parking and waiting in line at night is not permitted.
- Patients should follow traffic patterns and instructions from traffic monitors (a map is available at JaxReady.com/Virus?).
Patients must print a completed DOH vaccine screening and consent form and bring it to the vaccination site. The form is available at COJ.net/CovidVaccineForm.
Between the two sites, the city hopes to vaccinate just under 1,000 people with the Pfizer vaccine every day – Mandarin will provide 500 vaccines a day, while up to 475 vaccines will be distributed in Lane Wiley, according to the city. When daily supplies run out, the remaining patients have the option to come back on the assigned day the following week or schedule an appointment with the Florida Department of Health for the Prime Osborn location.
Vaccinations are still given by appointment at the Prime Osborn Convention Center, but the demand for appointments is greater than the supply – which is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. In response, the city announced last week that it would convert senior centers in Mandarin and on the west side of COVID-19 test sites to places to receive the vaccine.
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