provided to The Santiva Chronicle
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Lee County announced today, Jan. 11, that it is working on details related to future COVID-19 vaccination opportunities for seniors and frontline healthcare workers beginning Thursday, Jan. 14, and into the following week.
The reopening of the phone line to pre-register for an appointment to receive a vaccination will be announced on the county’s website, when that information becomes available. The reservation line remains closed today.
The Florida Department of Health-Lee County also said today that an estimated 9,000 doses of the vaccine will be administered this week to frontline healthcare workers and seniors 65 years and older.
The site near Southwest Florida International Airport off Daniels Parkway will reopen for people with confirmed appointments at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, and will run similarly to last week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, with an estimated 2,400 people with appointments per day receiving shots.
The FDOH-Lee this week will contact the initial individuals who need a second dose to schedule it in advance of their due date. Second doses for first responders and frontline healthcare workers, who were the first to receive the vaccine, would not be due in Lee County before Jan. 18.
For seniors who have received shots at Lee County sites, information will be forthcoming about scheduling a second dose. The state and county are collaborating on efficient ways to handle the number of people who need to be scheduled for second doses.
Through last week, more than 11,000 individuals will have been vaccinated at Lee County sites open to the public. Additionally, FDOH-Lee has vaccinated many medical workers at separate sites since the vaccination has become available here in December. This number of individuals does not include vaccinations issued by other entities such as Lee Health.
FDOH-Lee and the county are asking residents to keep in mind that only so many doses of the vaccine are made available to Lee County at a time. FDOH-Lee is the only Southwest Florida county health department to which the state issued new allotments of the vaccine for this week. FDOH-Lee and the county are also asking the community for its patience.
Called the vaccine phone number at precisely 12 00, made it online and provided the necessary information, name birthdate ZIP Code etc. at which point her voice came on and said the allocation is filled because of the number of people ahead of me. It was exactly 57 seconds. I have to talk faster. Wouldn’t the rec center be a wonderful source. Leo Larkin