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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville will be forced to shut down two city-run COVID-19 vaccine sites at the end of the day Thursday if it doesn’t receive more doses.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said the sites in the city will have exhausted vaccine supplies by Thursday’s end, and it is unclear when those sites could reopen.
“We’re ready to open more locations, if – if that’s important – when supplies are available,” Curry said. “Please understand that the City of Jacksonville has no control over the supply chain and what is available. While the state of Florida determines who receives their weekly assignment and how much, they don’t even know how much they will receive from week to week. “
Curry said the 8,000 people who have already received their first dose at one of the two locations can still receive their second dose.
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Curry said the entire state received 275,000 units of the vaccine last week. The state is notified every seven days of how many vaccine doses Florida will receive the following week, he added, and this number is different each time.
Leon Haley, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville, said he faces the same problem.
“We too will likely go without vaccination this week if we don’t get a second round,” said Haley.
Between UF Health hospitals in Jacksonville and Gainesville, Haley said, about 35,000 health professionals and patients have received at least their first dose in the last month.
Haley said the city is still in the midst of the second wave of COVID-19 infections, but there have been some encouraging signs of late.
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As of Tuesday, there were 510 COVID-19 patients in Jacksonville hospitals, 68 of them on a ventilator and 120 in intensive care units. Monday there were a total of 536 patients.
“So the good news is that we’re starting to see a little turnaround in the way hospitals and hospital admissions are done in the city,” said Haley. The mayor said the positivity rate in the city of Jacksonville is now 8.4%. That’s good, because just like two weeks ago, it was still 15%. “
Monday marked the first time less than 10,000 cases were reported in a day since December 28, when 8,198 cases were reported.
Curry said the state-run site at the Prime Osborn Convention Center will still offer vaccinations, and the state has plans to administer vaccinations at Regency Square Mall sometime in the future.
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