COVID-19 vaccinations expand to 60 and older in Palm Beach County

The Palm Beach County health department has expanded COVID-19 vaccinations to adults 60 years and older starting Monday.

Officials are encouraging all eligible individuals to complete the request form at the Health Care District’s website, http://vaccine. hcdpbc.org/.

The announcement comes as Publix too expanded its criteria to 60 and older as of Friday. Those wishing to get a vaccination at Publix must register on-line at publix. com/covidvaccine. Appointments may not be made over the phone.

The vaccine starting

Monday will be available to the following groups of people:

Persons 60 years of age and older;

Health care personnel with direct patient contact;

K-12 school employees 50 years of age and older;

Sworn law enforcement officers 50 years of age and older;

Firefighters 50 years of age and older;

People considered vulnerable to COVID-19 who have a doctor’s note.

“The Health Care District has the capacity to quickly schedule vaccination appointments for eligible adults and we encourage those who meet the criteria to log in and request an appointment,” said Darcy J. Davis, Health Care District Chief Executive Officer.

The health district in Palm Beach County has provided 85,000 vaccinations since in late December.

Those who submit appointment requests are asked to indicate in the “Reason for Appointment” box which of the above eligibility categories best applies. They are then placed in a virtual waiting room for scheduling on a first-come, first-serve basis. Depending on vaccine supply, eligible adults are being notified of an available appointment as quickly as a few days after submitting their online request, officials said Friday.

All registrations must be completed electronically at http://vaccine.hcdpbc.org/. For those with no internet access, the Health Care District’s helpline at 561-8044115 is available to assist in English, Spanish and Creole.

The Health Care District is operating three large-scale, appointment-only, walk-in vaccination sites at the South County Civic Center west of Delray Beach, the Burns Road Community Center in Palm Beach Gardens, and the South Florida Fairgrounds in suburban West Palm Beach.

MARGATE — Two girls, ages 12 and 13, were found in a car making out with two men in a Margate park and now one of those men is facing charges, police said.

Judley Joseph, 18, of West Palm Beach, is accused of having sex with the 13-yearold girl he met through social media.

According to the arrest report, police found Joseph touching the half naked teenager in the front seat and the other man was in the back seat with the 12-yearold girl at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday.

Both girls had been reported missing. When found, one girl told police they met the men on Instagram weeks earlier. The girls — who identified themselves as foster sisters — were picked up at a shopping plaza near their home in Margate and taken to Coral Gate Park, the report stated.

The older girl also said she and Joseph had sex in the car near the Calypso Cove water park on an earlier occasion. During questioning, Joseph said they planned to have sex again but police interrupted them, investigators said.

Joseph was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with a victim between the ages of 12 and 16. He was released from the Broward County Jail on Thursday on bonds totaling $40,000, records show.