LAKE COUNTY, Fla — UPDATE:
The Florida Department of Health said Monday that its immunization sites in Lake County will be closed Monday and Tuesday due to lack of vaccine availability.
The sites will re-open once the next shipment arrives, which is expected to be this week.
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Read: Here’s where to find the COVID-19 vaccine in your county
Officials said they hope to establish regular hours of operations and appointments as soon as partner site availability and regular shipments stabilize.
Click here for more information or text COVIDUPDATE to 888777 for updates.
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On Saturday, the Lake County Department of Health said all COVID-19 immunization sites will be closed Sunday, and could be closed Monday as well, depending on whether a new vaccine shipment arrives in time.
The Florida Department of Health in Lake County announced Friday that it would no longer be scheduling appointments for COVID-19 immunizations.
⚠️ The Florida Department of Health in Lake County is expected to receive another shipment of #COVID19 vaccines from the Florida Department of Emergency Management. Immunization sites are expected to reopen next week. https://t.co/AYPh10uXUb pic.twitter.com/O2jQILQ9gB
— Lake County Emergency Management (@lakeemergency) December 31, 2020
The announcement came after officials said that all 3,000 vaccines they received from the state had been accounted for.
According to officials, Lake County is awaiting its second shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, which is expected to arrive early next week. The Lake County Department of Health said it will let the public know as soon as the information becomes available.
As reminder, when the vaccine is available, DOH-Lake drive-thru immunization sites will be operating on a first-come, first-served basis for residents and non residents, subject to availability, and no appointments will be required.
As per Lake County health officials, if you have been on blood thinners for less than a year or have had recent heart-related surgery, take medications for atrial fibrillation, are currently undergoing cancer treatment, have had cancer within the last six months, or take any immunosuppression medication, please bring documentation from your health care provider stating that you may take the vaccine.
Read: Here’s where to find the COVID-19 vaccine in your county
For the latest immunization information, please continue to visit our website at lake.floridahealth.gov or follow us on Twitter @FLHealthLake.
We have partnered with the Lake County government to provide mobile updates to residents as immunization sites become available. Sign up by texting COVIDUPDATE to 888777.
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The Florida Department of Health in Lake County announced Friday that they would no longer be scheduling appointments for COVID-19 immunizations.
The announcement came after officials said that all 3,000 vaccines they received from the state had been accounted for.
@FLHealthLake #COVID19 Immunization Sites Update. We will be honoring scheduled appointments only at all DOH-Lake immunizations sites from 12/31/2020 through 01/02/2021. Learn more at https://t.co/Od4BtUQUoI
— Florida Health Lake (@FLHealthLake) December 31, 2020
For residents like Bonnie Binneveld getting one of the coveted spots wasn’t easy.
“I tried calling I could not get through. I tried about 100 times I had two different numbers,” Binneveld said.
READ: Florida sets new single day COVID-19 record with 17,000 new cases
Health officials say they hope to finish the first round of vaccines this weekend. The vaccines were giving out by appointment on Friday and will again on Saturday. After that, health officials said the vaccines will be given out on a first-come first-served basis.
On Wednesday officials in Lake County announced they would begin offering COVID-19 vaccines to high-risk front-line health care workers and those who are 65 and older.
Shortly after the announcement health officials said demand was so high the phone system couldn’t handle the number of calls.
READ: Here’s where to find the COVID-19 vaccine in your county
Officials say they could receive the second shipment of the vaccine from the state as early as Monday and hope to begin administering vaccinations that day.
Aaron Kissler with the Department of Health in Lake County says once they do receive the next round of vaccines residents will not need to make an appointment.
“It’ll be first-come, first-serve. We’ll be putting numbers out on the cars in the morning and determine how many we can take for the day,” Kissler said.
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Persons over 65 will need identification and frontline workers will need to present a copy of their medical license, employee badge, or current pay stub to get the vaccine.
According to the state, as of Thursday, 2,321 people had been vaccinated in Lake County.
A list of Lake County immunization sites can be found here.
WFTV
