Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Seniors start lining up for vaccines at stadium
Nearly 500 get shots in Fort Lauderdale
About 450 seniors got their COVID-19 shots Tuesday at Fort Lauderdale’s Inter Miami CF Stadium, on the first day that the stadium opened as a vaccination site.
Registration continued Tuesday, and a hospital spokeswoman said schedulers were still combing through 36,000 requests for appointments that started coming in online Monday. The spokeswoman said 1,500 appointments were booked since Monday.
Broward Health, which partnered with the city for the initiative, is encouraging seniors to register for their shots at the stadium at Lockhart Park at 1350 NW 55th St. People must register in advance at BrowardHealth.org, then click on “To request a COVID-19 vaccination click here” to complete and submit the vaccination request form.
The vaccines are being offered to seniors age 65 and older, as well as paramedics, and doctors and dentists without hospital privileges as well as their office staff.
The site will be open Monday through Friday, and the hospital expects to vaccinate up to 500 pre-registered patients a day, according to Broward Health spokeswoman Jennifer Smith.
“Currently, the Inter Miami CF Stadium will be our primary community vaccination location, but we will continue to explore ways to expand capacity based upon community need,” she said Tuesday.
Vaccination appointments have been in demand.
At 2 p.m. Monday, Miami-Dade County had offered 2,000 slots for seniors, but the site was full almost instantly. South Floridians have endured crashed websites and busy phone lines while trying to set up appointments. Whenever a sign-up has been offered, appointments typically are all booked within a few minutes.
Broward County commissioners on Tuesday called for home health aides to get vaccine priority, and said more vaccines were needed overall.