JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The four federally-supported vaccination sites in Florida, including the one at Gateway Mall in Jacksonville, will be able to administer 500 first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine per day through the beginning of April, the state Division of Emergency Management announced Monday.
Initially, Tuesday was supposed to be the last day for Floridians who are eligible to get the vaccine to get first-dose shots from those sites. But the Florida Division of Emergency Management later said that after evaluating the current vaccine supply, the state determined that previously unused first doses from federal sites could be redistributed to continue administering first-dose shots Wednesday through April 7.
“Extending it is good,” said Dr. Sunil Joshi, head of the Duval County Medical Society Foundation. “That will hopefully allow the 50-year-olds who are now eligible to get the vaccine to be able to get it at an area where there is a huge supply of vaccines as well.
The four federal sites in Florida -- the three others located in Orlando, Tampa and Miami -- will only offer second doses of the Pfizer vaccine April 7 through April 14.
The satellite sites associated with each hub site -- including the two satellite sites in Duval County -- will continue to only administer second-dose shots between Wednesday and April 14.
All satellite sites will return to their original locations over the next three weeks. According to FDEM, the satellite sites at Oceanway Community Center on Jacksonville’s Northside and the Carver Center in Jacksonville Beach will move back to the Normandy Community Center and Hammond Senior Center for the next three weeks. State officials said they want people to be able to return to the site where they got their first dose for their second dose.
For the last two weeks of operations, April 14 through April 28, the state is planning to offer the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
FDEM said Monday that the state is working closely with the federal government to evaluate if the federal sites can remain open past April 28.
FDEM’s announcement Monday came on the same day Vice President Kamala visited the Gateway Mall site and the same day the state expanded vaccine eligibility to Floridians age 50 and older.
“Adults are over the age of 50 have a 25 times more likely chance of being hospitalized if they pick up COVID-19, so getting this group in to get them vaccinated before you open it up to the whole rest of the community is important,” Joshi said. “Hopefully now that we have increased the number of people who can receive the vaccine, we will start to see were there demand starts to come up closer toward the supply the vaccine available.”