FEMA vaccine sites open up in Orlando
Officials push walk-up shots at site run by Army’s 101st Airborne Division
The federally run vaccine site at Valencia College’s west campus opened Wednesday with modest lines, an efficient operation and word from site officials that the newly minted Johnson & Johnson shot will arrive soon.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and city commissioner Regina HIll toured the site, run by the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, and came away impressed with the operation expected to process 2,000 shots per day.
“I am so impressed with the operation and the military’s set up here,” Dyer said. “I don’t think a lot of people realize this is a walk-up site so if you’re not pre-registered or you don’t have an appointment, you can still come over here.”
Army Lt. Col. Troy Fisher said about 1,800 vaccines were administered Wednesday, below the capabilities of the site. He said in the coming days they expected to receive the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine and will provide people a choice of that or the Pfizer cocktail which requires two dosages.
“I would love to see more people come here,” Fisher said. “If we can get to 250 an hour, we’ll be doing the community a much better service.”
Army Capt. Jon Gagne said the site is trying to keep wait times below 45 minutes.
The site is set up underneath large air-conditioned tents in the parking lot of the campus off Kirkman Road, west of downtown Orlando. Dyer said the federal operation is due to run eight weeks at first but could be extended
Shots are currently available to those older than 65, front-line health care workers, long-term care facility workers and residents, as well as people in the following categories who are at least 50 years old:
K-12 school staff, firefighters and police officers.
Turnout may be slowed by confusion on who is eligible to receive the shot. But Army officials running the site said that shouldn’t hamper people from coming to get registered.
“By all means, if people are confused about what to do, please come here and we’ll help you through,” Fisher said. “Please come to the site we’ll make sure you get registered in the way to take care of you.”
And the Florida Department of Emergency Management confirmed Wednesday that people deemed by a doctor to be “extremely vulnerable” to COVID-19 can also get inoculated at the federal sites, if their doctor signs a form released by the state late Tuesday.
Oliver Howard, 65, said he woke up Wednesday morning and heard about the new site on TV, deciding to drive over from Clermont to get a vaccine. Howard, an Army veteran, said it’s been difficult for him and his wife to get an appointment, but they were struck by the ease of the FEMA operation.
“It was a breeze,” he said after receiving a shot of Pfizer. “We weren’t even in line. We walked through it. … If you don’t take advantage of this situation, you’re very foolish.”
Eulalee Johnson, 70, too had struggled to find an open slot for the shot at sites run by the state and retailers.
But she and her husband were able to get an appointment at Valencia College, and were processed within about 15 minutes, she said.
“I loved it,” she said, adding that if she was younger, she would’ve liked to help out as well.
Also Wednesday, smaller sites at Engelwood Neighborhood Center in east Orlando and another at the St. Cloud Civic Center began efforts to vaccinate 500 people per day. Those locations will move later this week to Kelly Park in Apopka and a park in Highlands County.
Hill said the main site is a boon for the majority African American neighborhoods nearby that face steeper barriers to get the vaccine, including lower income levels, lack of Internet access and transportation. The federal government chose the site in part due to it scoring a high Social Vulnerability Index, which measures a community’s risk when disaster strikes.
“Today, what I have noticed... is that the primary folks who are coming to the site are Black and brown residents here on the west side of Orlando,” Hill said.
Hill, whose office has been helping with phone banking and door-to-door efforts in nearby neighborhoods, said many seniors have said they’re waiting for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to become more available in hopes of only needing one shot.
“They’re saying they want to wait for the Johnson & Johnson... they want that one shot Johnson & Johnson,” she said.