Jacksonville’s federal COVID-19 vaccine site to administer Pfizer vaccine through April 7

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — 3/22/2021 Update: The Florida Division of Emergency Management announced that the Gateway Mall, a federally-supported vaccination site in Jacksonville, will administer 500 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine per day beginning March 24 through April 7. Action News Jax reported when the state previously announced that the vaccination site would only be able to administer second dose shots during that time.

The satellite sites associated with the Gateway Mall site, Oceanway Community Center and the Carver Center, will continue only administering second dose shots between March 24 and April 14.

Read the full statement from the FDEM below:

“Today, the Florida Division of Emergency Management announced that the four federally-supported vaccination sites in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami will be able to administer 500 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine per day March 24 – April 7. Previously, the state announced that the vaccination sites would only be able to administer second dose shots during this time.

In order to ensure all individuals who visited the site were able to receive second doses prior to the sites ceasing operations, the federally-supported sites were planning to only offer second dose shots March 24 – April 14. After evaluating current vaccine supply, the state determined that previously unused first doses from federal sites could be redistributed to continue administering first dose shots for March 24 – April 7. The vaccines will only be offered at the hub sites in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami, and each site will offer 500 Pfizer vaccines per day to eligible populations. These sites will only offer the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine April 7 – 14.

Satellite sites associated with each hub site will continue only administering second dose shots between March 24 – April 14. All satellite sites will return to their original locations over the next three weeks so all individuals who received their first dose at these sites can receive their second doses. The Division will continue to post the satellite schedule online to reduce confusion about when the satellite sites will return to their previous locations.

For the last two weeks of operations, April 14 – 28, the state is planning to offer the one dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

The federally-supported vaccination sites were designed to remain in their communities for eight weeks. The state understands how critical these vaccination sites are in increasing vaccine access to Floridians. The state is working closely with the federal government to evaluate if these sites can remain open past April 28. This operation may be extended based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, increased vaccine allocations and resource availability.

The Division continues to encourage individuals to visit state-supported vaccination sites to receive a vaccine. State-supported sites can vaccinate all eligible individuals under Governor DeSantis’ current Executive Order, including those deemed medically vulnerable. All state-supported vaccination sites and their hours of operations are available at FloridaDisaster.org/Vaccine.”

Original Story:

As Florida gets ready to expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include everyone age 50 and older on Monday, Action News Jax has learned the last day to receive a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Jacksonville’s three federally-supported vaccination sites is Tuesday, March 23.

The three sites, which include the Gateway Mall, the Carver Center in Jacksonville Beach, and the Oceanway Community Center off Sago Avenue, will transition to only giving out second doses instead, beginning Wednesday.

There is one exception. A representative says the sites will distribute Johnson & Johnson vaccines from April 18-28.

A FEMA rep says the sites were only meant to stay open for 8 weeks. Action News Jax received the following statement from the Florida Division of Emergency Management:

“The federally-supported vaccination sites in Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and Miami were designed to remain in their communities for eight weeks. These temporary, federally-supported sites are operated through a partnership between the state and the federal government to increase vaccine access in underserved communities throughout the state. This information has been posted on FloridaDisaster.org/Vaccine under the federally-supported drop down menu since the sites have opened. Under this tab, there is a link to the “State of Florida Federally-Supported Vaccination Sites Overview” document that outlines how second doses will be administered at the sites. That information is available on pages 3 and 4.

“The temporary federally-supported vaccination sites are currently in the third week of operations. In order to ensure all individuals are able to receive their second doses before sites cease operations, the state is only offering second doses for the next three weeks at these sites beginning Wednesday, March 24. Individuals have until Tuesday, March 23 to continue receiving first dose shots at the federally-supported sites.

“Also, all satellite sites will return to their original locations over the next three weeks so all individuals who received their first dose at these sites can receive their second doses. The Division will continue to post the satellite schedule online to reduce confusion about when the satellite sites will return to their previous locations.

“At this time, for the last two weeks of operations (April 14 – 28), the state is planning to offer the one dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. This will allow individuals who were not able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine the first three weeks to have the opportunity to be vaccinated.

“The state understands how critical these vaccination sites are in increasing vaccine access to Floridians. The state is working closely with the federal government to evaluate if these sites can remain open past April 28. This operation may be extended based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, increased vaccine allocations and resource availability. Additional details will be released as they become available.

“We continue to encourage all eligible Floridians to visit these sites to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals can also receive a vaccine at any state-supported vaccination site. State-supported sites can vaccinate all eligible individuals under the Governor’s current Executive Order, including those deemed medically vulnerable. All state-supported vaccination sites and their hours of operations are available at FloridaDisaster.org/Vaccine.”

Cox Media Group