UpdatedThu, Jan 7, 2021 at 4:34 pm ET
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First responders and front-line health workers were among the first to get the vaccine. (Clearwater Fire & Rescue)
CLEARWATER, FL While it made great fodder for late-night comedians, Pinellas County senior citizens didn t appreciate the joke.
The tears in their eyes weren t from laughter but the result of frustration and anger as 247,648 Pinellas residents age 65 and up tried to dial in to the Department of Health-Pinellas County Monday to claim one of 400 doses of coronavirus vaccine.
Like many residents,
Lisa Shields began dialing in one minute before the second hand on her watch struck 12 (the system was scheduled to go online at noon). She desperately wanted to get a vaccination for her 86-year-old father.
The stores are part of a pilot program that will begin giving the vaccine Friday, as supplies last. More stores across the state could be added if distribution goes well.
Publix locations in Hernando, Citrus and Marion counties will soon be able to administer the coronavirus vaccine as part of pilot program announced Tuesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis said the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Department of Health has partnered with Publix to begin vaccinations on Friday. Those interested in receiving the vaccine must do so by making an appointment, starting Thursday.
Vaccines are only available at this time to priority groups: long-term care facility staff and residents, people 65 or older and health care workers.
With a 95% effective rate, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the gooseâs golden eggs as coronavirus cases soar.
However, the supply of doses, unable to match demand, has elected officials and health professionals scrambling to come up with a distribution process for vaccination.
Florida residents 65 and older had high hopes for receiving the vaccine after the governor signed an executive order to prioritize them for the next available doses. Seniors were left with crushed spirits when the online registration process to set appointments proved faulty.
Early Tuesday morning, Jackson Health Systemâs site wavered when a flood of people flocked to it anticipating securing a slot on the appointments list. Within two hours of the online registration form going active, 12,000 spots were booked. As more doses become available, appointment slots will be updated every few days.
Officials: Evidence of UK virus strain found in Florida man
By Staff | Jan 3, 2021
Seniors stand in line to make an appointment to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine outside the King s Point clubhouse in Delray Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. (Greg Lovett /The Palm Beach Post via AP)
MIAMI (AP) Florida health authorities late Thursday reported finding evidence of the latest U.S. case of the new and apparently more contagious coronavirus strain first seen in England, saying it was detected in a man with no recent travel history.
The case, disclosed in a Florida Health Department statement tweeted on its HealthyFla site, comes after reports in recent days of multiple individual cases of the United Kingdom strain of COVID-19 discovered in Colorado and California.
500 Escambia residents get COVID vaccine Sunday, part of state pilot to test rollout Annie Blanks, Pensacola News Journal
About 500 Escambia County residents were among the first in the general population to receive the COVID-19 vaccination on Sunday morning, thanks to a pilot program initiated by the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Florida Department of Health intended to test how the vaccine rollout will look on the ground.
The residents, all aged 65 or older and mostly minorities, were recruited by the state for the vaccine this past week through their churches and other grassroots community efforts. The pilot program happened Sunday morning in Escambia County and at least one other Florida county, according to Eric Gilmore, the county s interim public safety director.