Jacksonville’s federal COVID vaccine sites to stop administering first doses next week

Jacksonville, FL — As Florida gets ready to expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include everyone age 50 and older on Monday, Jacksonville’s three federally-supported vaccination sites plan to stop administering first doses starting March 24th.

Our partner Action News Jax reports that the three sites, which includes the Gateway Mall, will transition to only giving out second doses instead.

There is one exception. A representative says the sites will distribute Johnson & Johnson vaccines from April 14-28.

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

“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