Walk-Up Vaccination Clinic Opens In Palm Harbor

PALM HARBOR, FL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Palm Harbor Wednesday to help celebrate the opening of a new walk-up vaccine site where no appointments are needed.

The new site located at The Centre in Palm Harbor at 1550 16th St. will serve about 750 people a day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“This site will be offering 500 Pfizer vaccines a day, but we have also decided we are doing about 200 Johnson and Johnson vaccines a day,” said DeSantis.

Unfortunately, said DeSantis, additional shipments of the popular one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine he expected to distribute to Florida vaccination sites have been held up.

“We have no more J&J coming for the next two or three weeks," DeSantis said, adding that he didn't know why shipments have been held up.

He advised people not to wait for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“If you’ve been waiting for J&J, and you have an opportunity to get a Pfizer or a Moderna, I’d recommend getting the Pfizer or the Moderna if you can do it because I can’t guarantee you J&J is going to be available," he said.

As of this week, residents age 60 and up are eligible to receive vaccines. Vaccines are also available to school employees, law enforcement and firefighters age 50 and up and health care workers of all ages who have direct patient contact.

DeSantis said he'll be lowering the eligibility to age 55 some time this month but hasn't specified a date. He expects to open vaccinations to all adults by May 1.

DeSantis was asked about the qualification differences for school personnel at state sites and sites run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Florida. The FEMA sites are permitting any school personnel to be vaccinated no matter the person's age.

“What the federal government did is that they said anybody that works in K-12 is eligible. So at those FEMA sites, they do it regardless of age. We’re not doing that because we’re following the data and the data tells us if you’re a 22-year-old school employee, you’re at less risk than somebody who is 70, or 65, so we’re focusing on the 50 and up,” DeSantis said.

The federal site is located at the closed Tampa Greyhound Race Track at 755 E. Waters Ave. in Sulphur Springs. It is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., administering about 2,000 vaccines a day.

The federal sites are being operated in by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, the Florida Department of Health, Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida National Guard.

FEMA sites use the same preregistration system the state-run sites use - myvaccine.fl.gov or 866-200-3896.

See related stories: No Wait For Vaccinations At Federal Site In Tampa