Drive-Thru Vaccine Clinic Set At County Administration Building

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — Following a deadly COVID-19 outbreak among Manatee County employees that killed two people, the county will host a drive-thru vaccination clinic Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the county administration building at 1112 Manatee Ave. W. in Bradenton.

The clinic is open to any county employees or anyone in downtown Bradenton who wants to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the county said in a news release.

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be distributed to anyone 18 and older.

Six employees on the county administration building’s seventh floor recently tested positive for COVID-19, including five IT department staff members and one member of the county's CARES team. Two members of the IT team died.

County Administrator Dr. Scott Hopes, an epidemiologist, said that contact tracing suggests the CARES worker is “an outlier case not connected to the original cluster of five” in IT, according to the county.

None of the staff who contracted coronavirus have been in the administration building since June 14 and all known cases have been limited to the seventh floor, the county said.

Like what you're reading? Invite a friend to subscribe to free Bradenton newsletters and real-time email alerts.

All six known cases resulted in hospitalization or death, which is concerned, Hopes said.

“The clinical presentation gives me concern that we're dealing with a very infectious variant that is quite deadly," he told CNN.

He told Bay News 9 that he believes COVID-19’s delta variant is spreading through Manatee County.

“My suspicion as an epidemiologist is that we’re dealing with a variant unlike what we had last year,” Hopes said. “This appeared to behave like the delta variant, they’re waiting on confirmation on what variant they’re dealing with.”

Hopes has implemented several protocols at the county administration building through at least July 1.

Employees who haven’t been fully vaccinated are encouraged to get vaccinated or work from home until there are no indications that the virus is being spread through the building, the county said.

Unvaccinated workers who choose to continue working in the building are encouraged to wear an N95 or equivalent face mask.

All workers, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, are encouraged to follow social distancing guidelines and to meet virtually rather than in person “whenever there is mixed vaccination status among the meeting group,” the county said.