JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Expect changes to some of Jacksonville vaccine sites this week.
The city will be closing its two senior center locations at the end of the week and it’s expected some local grocery chains and big-box stores will begin offering vaccines at their pharmacies.
Officials from Southeast Grocers, which owns Harveys and Winn-Dixie stores, said Monday they are still working on the final details of the plan.
Last week the chain announced it plans to administer 8,100 vaccinations at no cost on Feb. 11. What stores and where is still not known.
Also on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Walmart stores will begin administering vaccines, but again details are not yet publicly available. He said an announcement is coming later this week.
News4Jax spoke to seniors at the Lane Wiley Senior Center vaccination site on the Westside, operated by the city of Jacksonville, which is only administering second doses.
“I feel fabulous. I feel blessed,” Diana Walker said. “I got my second shot. The line was not long. The people are wonderful. And I’m looking forward to resuming somewhat of a normal life. But of course, I’ll still be cautious.”
At the end of this week, the two city-run sites at senior centers in Mandarin on the Westside will close. The city did open a pop-up vaccination site on the Northside on Friday and Saturday and was able to vaccinate nearly 1,000 people.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry says he hopes to be able to do more in the near future.
“We just need more supply and we just don’t have it right now. We are going to keep chasing and fighting for it,” Curry said.
Sandra Jarell says having the city sites was a blessing and is grateful to be vaccinated.
“I am very happy to have this over,” Jarrell said.
She just hopes everyone will be able to get vaccinated.
News4Jax has also been hearing problems people have been having with the state-run vaccination sites.
Some people have concerns about their second shot appointments after they did not get callbacks.
The Florida Association of Public Information Officers said the call center began calling people last week to schedule second dose appointments. Those who received the first dose have up to six weeks to receive the second vaccine, the agency said.