Floridians 40 and older now eligible
FEMA site has 3,000 first doses ready
All Florida residents age 40 and older are eligible to get to the COVID-19 vaccine starting today, the final age drop by Gov. Ron DeSantis before the shots expand to anyone over 18 next week.
The Orange County Convention Center has already been vaccinating people 40 and up since last week under order from Mayor Jerry Demings. Last Monday, 7,000 slots for injections at the convention center were booked within 13 minutes.
Appointments open online today at 9 a.m. and can be made at www. patientportalfl.com.
The OCCC site also vaccinates all employees of law enforcement, fire and corrections departments, child care workers and educators without age restrictions.
Statewide, anyone age 40 and up — down from 50 last week — can be inoculated at a pharmacy, state or county-run location.
This is also the final week that a person of any age deemed “extremely vulnerable” to COVID-19 needs a Department of Health form signed by their doctor to get vaccinated.
FEMA-supported locations, including Valencia College’s West Campus, are continuing to offer the first dose of the Pfizer vaccines until April 6 — a shift from previous plans with an earlier end date.
The Orlando hub will have 3,000 first doses available today and then 1,000
first doses available each day for the rest of the week, according to Andrea Schuch, a state spokeswoman representing the Valencia site.
Appointments are not required for first doses at the federally-supported sites.
“We are very excited about the news of having 3,000 [first] doses available [today], especially with the change in eligibility, so that more people have the opportunity to get vaccinated,” Schuch said in an email.
Last week, the entire supply of 1,000 doses was injected in first-time recipients by noon each day.
The number of second doses available at the Valencia site will vary depending on how many people were injected 21 days earlier.
Schuch said that anyone who is scheduled for their second dose doesn’t need to arrive at the exact time on their appointment card. They are guaranteed a shot that day and are likely to experience shorter wait times in the afternoon, she said.
The Valencia site is expected to only offer second shots from April 7 to April 14, and then offer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine from April 14 to April 28.
It is unknown if the federally-supported locations will remain open after that.
Florida’s expansion of eligibility on April 5 also includes teenagers ages 16 and 17 with the Pfizer shot — the only COVID-19 vaccine currently approved for that age group by the Food & Drug Administration.
Teens will need a permission form signed by their parents to get the shot or be accompanied by a parent to a vaccination site.
Florida is among at least 34 U.S. states expanding vaccine eligibility to all adults by mid-April, according to a Washington Post review, weeks ahead of President Joe Biden’s May 1 deadline.