Places where seniors can sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine
Seniors eager for COVID19 vaccines have endured crashed websites and busy phone lines while trying to book their appointments across South Florida. But keep trying.
Here is a list of places where you can sign up for a vaccine, even though it could take months to get one. Spots are opening up only as vaccine doses become available.
Broward County
Drive-thru sites: The Florida Department of Health in Broward said it will open new registration slots Jan. 21. The website information will be announced later.
The agency has opened a number of drive-thrus for anyone age 65 or older. Appointments and a photo ID are required. Vaccines are free of charge.
The sites, where you already must have an appointment before showing up, are:
Tradewinds Park, 3600 W. Sample Road, Coconut Creek.
Vista View Park, 4001 SW 142 Ave.
Markham Park, 16001 W. State Road 84.
Holiday Park, 1150 G. Harold Martin Drive, Fort Lauderdale.
Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, 3700 NW 11th Place, Lauderhill.
Overflow appointments, which pertain to people who had appointments elsewhere and are being redirected, are at the southwest entrance of Coral Square Mall, at the intersection of University Drive and Atlantic Boulevard in Coral Springs. This is a park-and-walk-up site, not a drive-thru. County officials said 40,000 people are currently on the list awaiting vaccination appointments.
There is more to come, including a new site at a county park in Hollywood.
Memorial Healthcare System: Memorial opened 5,000 appointments Jan. 13 for a walk-up site at two locations but callers were told the spots were full in 45 minutes. Continue to monitor https:// www.mhs.net/patients-visitors/coronavirus-disease/ covid-19-vaccination for new openings.
Cleveland Clinic Florida: Reservations ended once the vaccine supply was gone. Check www.clevelandclinicflorida.org for updates.
Holy Cross Health: The Fort Lauderdale hospital has started to vaccinate a limited number of its own patients and will offer vaccines to other seniors “as soon as possible,” according to a hospital spokeswoman. Check www.holy-cross.com/ covidvaccine or call 954-2677600.
Broward Health: Broward Health opened its website Jan. 11 for vaccines for seniors, paramedics, and doctors and dentists without hospital privileges as well as their office staff at the Inter Miami CF Stadium at Lockhart Park, at 1350 NW 55 St. in Fort Lauderdale. On Jan. 13, it suspended new appointment requests “as our schedulers work to process the more than 56,000 requests received in the past 48 hours.” Seniors should check BrowardHealth.org for updates on when new appointment requests will resume. Anyone who needs to cancel or reschedule their appointment should complete the form at BrowardHealth.org/ COVIDReschedule.
Palm Beach County
Publix:
All 67 Publix pharmacies in Palm Beach County will offer the COVID-19 vaccine. Go to: www.publix. com/covid-vaccine/florida. The next round of registration will be 6 a.m. Jan. 22 for vaccines Jan. 23-26. Appointments slots will continue to open weekly as supply is available.
Palm Beach County: The county has no drive-thru sites yet. People 65 and older have been able to place themselves in the queue to get appointments by emailing the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach. But on Jan. 19, the agency announced that “due to large amounts of email requests being received, the email address will be deactivated until those already in the system can be accommodated. At this time, we are only scheduling vaccination appointments for the individuals on the Palm Beach County Department of Health waiting list. As more vaccines become available, we will provide public information about scheduling your appointment.”
There have been more than 200,000 vaccine requests sent by email.
Fire Rescue: Various cities in Palm Beach County opened online registration on Jan. 14 to give as much as 200 vaccines each to seniors, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. The spots were quickly filled. In Delray Beach, officials said they hope to have more vaccines in the future and residents can sign up for “Code Red” alerts at http://delraybeachfl.gov/ prepared.
Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County: Miami-Dade County opened 2,000 slots for seniors Jan. 11 but they were full almost instantly. Continue to check here for appointments: miamidade.gov/vaccine.
Baptist Health South Florida: Baptist on Jan. 8 began offering appointments but soon booked more than 13,000 and stopped accepting sign-ups. But those seniors who were scheduled to receive the first dose of the vaccine on Jan. 20 and after were notified on email that those with pending appointments were canceled. “At this time, we have not received an allocation of first dose vaccines for this week and beyond, and the timing of any subsequent deliveries remains unclear,” according to a spokesman. In the absence of a stable supply, we believe it is in our community’s best interest to cancel existing appointments and encourage patients to make new appointments elsewhere.” Keeping checking baptisthealth-coronavirus. com/en/vaccine for available appointments if their supply situation changes.
Hard Rock Stadium: A drive-thru site opened Jan. 8 and pledged to book 1,000 appointments per day for a week. All slots are currently full. Residents can monitor 1-888-499-0840.
Mount Sinai Medical Center: Mount Sinai is providing vaccines to MiamiDade County residents who are 75 or older. Call 305-6742312.
Jackson Health System: Miami-Dade’s public hospital network is not currently taking new appointments for vaccines. Check www.safeatjackson.org for appointment updates.
When vaccines resume it will be at three locations:
Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center, 1611 NW 12 Ave., Miami.
Jackson South Medical Center, 9333 SW 152 St., Miami.
North Dade Health Center, 16555 NW 25 Ave., Opa-locka.