Jackson Health to vaccinate teachers, at-risk people 50 and up
Jackson Health System will soon begin vaccinating police officers, firefighters and K-12 school personnel if they are all 50 and over.
The hospital is also lowering its age requirement from 55 to 50 for people with at-risk conditions. It’s scrapping a list of 13 medical conditions to include any that makes someone a high-risk candidate for COVID complications. A doctor’s note listing the condition is needed.
Jackson Health’s President and CEO Carlos Migoya announced the changes Tuesday. The addition of police, firefighters, teachers and other school personnel 50 and older comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order making the groups a vaccination priority. Appointments were to open late Tuesday, with vaccinations to begin Wednesday. Jackson recommends following its Twitter and Instagram accounts for updates at https://jacksonhealth. org/keeping-you-safe/. You must be a Florida resident to get a vaccine.
Work badges or IDs will must be shown at the appointments. That also goes for substitute teachers and after-school care staff.
For people 50 and older with an at-risk condition, including cancer, morbid obesity and type 2 diabetes, a doctor’s note is required and must be on the physician’s letterhead or prescription pad. The physician’s note must list the patient’s name, the high-risk condition being treated and a recommendation to be vaccinated.
The state of Florida has opened a new walk-up COVID-19 vaccination site in Overtown, a noappointment-necessary option that leaders hope will expand access to residents in one of Miami’s oldest Black neighborhoods.
The vaccination site at 1551 NW First Ave. is now open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily for those eligible for COVID vaccines under state regulations, including Florida residents 65 and older and healthcare workers. Seniors must bring ID to verify their age, and healthcare workers must bring their professional license. Officials said they have the capacity to do around 200 vaccinations a day.
The site is being managed by a collaboration between the state, the Overtown Youth Center, the city of Miami and disaster management firms IEM and AshBritt. Gov. Ron DeSantis first announced the plan to open a site in Overtown last week.
City and community leaders, including former Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning, celebrated the opening of the site Tuesday at a press conference.
Experts have said that the best way to promote vaccinations among communities of color, particularly Black communities where there may be mistrust of the healthcare systems, is to open walk-up sites inside minority neighborhoods.
“It is imperative that we continue to break down barriers by creating accessibility and closing health gaps,” Mourning said. “This site is integral because it is located in the heart of a historically Black community, and we all know the impact of COVID-19 globally, and how it has been most devastating to communities of color.”
“I’m here to encourage the African-American community, in particular our people in communities of great faith, to protect yourselves and get vaccinated,” said Kenneth L. Washington, pastor at Greater Israel Bethel Primitive Baptist Church in Overtown.
Mayor Francis Suarez noted disparities in vaccination rates between white and Black neighborhoods. He said he recorded a robocall that will go out to Overtown residents this week.