CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Clay County is preparing to vaccinate thousands of people outside the Clay County Fairgrounds starting Monday.
Vaccination appointments will start being taken on Monday morning at the Godbold Building just outside the fairgrounds.
There’s lots of important information that people need to know.
First, after you get a shot you will have to go on the county website and schedule a second shot yourself. Those people will be given priority to get an appointment once the next shipment of doses arrives in the county.
The county website to sign up is Alert.claycountygov.com, but at this point, the website does not have the option to schedule a second round of vaccines. That option will not be operational until Monday or Tuesday. When it is, residents who received their first dose will have to log onto the site and select to get a second dose. The county will give you a card that shows which shot you received and you have to make sure you’re getting the same brand of shot for the second round.
And if you leave the county and are out of town you can qualify in another county to get your second vaccine, but you need to make sure it’s by the same manufacturer.
The second round of the shot needs to be administered roughly three to four weeks after the first shot, it varies depending on the manufacturer.
People who are given their first shot at the Godbold Building will be given information on when they need to get their second shot.
Clay is giving all 3,000 doses of the vaccine they have in their possession out and are anticipating another shipment in time for everyone else to get their second round of vaccine.
Earlier this week Clay County ran a “soft opening” and administered the vaccine to EMS workers as well as a few dozen senior citizens from independent living facilities in the county.
One was Penney Retirement Community where 50 residents received a shot. The CEO said the process went well for residents.
“They thought it was easy. They also have not had any side effects from the vaccine. A little sore arm here and there but other than that we have had no reactions to the vaccine. They were very, very thankful to get it,” said Penney Retirement Community CEO Teresa Scott.
The rest of the residents received vaccines through a federal contract and those doses were administered by a pharmacy.
Clay County EMS Director John Ward also received the vaccine and posted this video to the county website of his experience so people will know what to expect: https://fb.watch/2JVkAV-N6E/