Published On: Thu, Jan 21st, 2021

Palm Beach County Commissioner Robert S Weinroth Offers Vaccine Update

In our continuing effort to keep stakeholders informed, the following information is being provided on the continuing rollout of the COVID vaccine.

Residents are urged to remember the Moderna vaccine (generally available in Palm Beach County) was only issued an Emergency Use Authorization on December 18th. In just over a month, we have made great strides to offer the vaccine to county residents (according to the priorities set by Governor Ron DeSantis),

Darcy Davis, CEO Health Care District of PBC

The Publix vaccine rollout is underway and Palm Beach County is by far the most populous county participating in the supermarket’s vaccination program. 

Publix stated that, statewide, over 250,000 customers were online on Wednesday morning and approximately 24,042 appointments were made. 

Once all appointments were filled the online portal was closed. It will reopen on Friday at 6AM for Saturday appointments.

There is no queue and new appointments will be added based on vaccine supply, which is provided by the Governor.  

Residents are urged to remain patient.

Each Publix Pharmacy has the ability to administer 100 to 125 shots a day. With 67 Publix locations countywide, you will have a good opportunity to get an appointment over the next few weeks.  

PLEASE REMEMBER: Appointments with Publix can only be made using the online portal at Publix.com/covid-vaccine/florida 

Do not call for an appointment or show up without an appointment.  

The Health Care District will contact people who sent emails to the FDOH at CHD50Feedback@FLHealth.gov.

The FDOH is not taking any additional names for the time being, until appointments are given to the nearly 200,000 people who have already registered.

The Health Care District of Palm Beach County is assisting the FDOH in administering the vaccines at the South County Civic Center and John Prince Park. Consequently, more vaccinations are taking place daily and after these requests are fulfilled, they will be accepting new appointments at CHD50Feedback@FLHealth.gov.   

Take a moment to reflect on how successful we’ve been. These agencies, including Publix, cannot vaccinate 1.5 million county residents in a week or a month. 

Palm Beach County has vaccinated a higher percentage of its seniors than Broward and Miami-Dade counties. By the end of the week over 1 million Florida residents will be vaccinated! Progress is being made.

On January 19, 2021, County Mayor Dave Kerner and Vice Mayor Robert S Weinroth provided an update at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on local COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Joining them were Commissioners Maria Marino, Gregg Weiss, Maria Sachs, Melissa McKinlay and Mack Bernard, as well as Darcy Davis, CEO of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, and Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County.

Commissioner Mack Bernard

Tuesday marked Day 309 of Level 2 activation at the Emergency Operations Center )no longest activation in county history).

Vaccinations – COVID-19 vaccine allotment and distribution are under the control of the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Palm Beach County area hospitals received separate allocations directly from the state and must be dispensed according to the governor’s  Executive Order 20-315.

Commissioner Maria Marino

Vaccine supplies remain very limited; first phase priority populations are front-line healthcare workers; long-term care residents and staff; and those age 65 and older. To date, 90,409 individuals in Palm Beach County have received an initial dose of the vaccine, and 3,154 have completed their 2-dose series.

Publix – 67 Publix Supermarkets with pharmacies in Palm Beach County have been authorized to administer vaccines (up to 125 vaccinations per store per day) beginning on Thursday, January 21. Eligible individuals can sign up at Publix.com/covid-vaccine/Florida. You must have an appointment to be vaccinated. Palm Beach County is the state’s first large urban county to have the vaccine distribution by Publix.

Commissioner Melissa McKinlay

Other locations – Governor DeSantis directed the allocation of vaccines to Kings Point in Delray Beach, Century Village in Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, and Leisureville in Boynton Beach. This past weekend, state incident management teams were at Wells Recreation Center in Riviera Beach and Tabernacle Missionary Baptist church in West Palm Beach.

Appointments – The Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County are working together to vaccinate those with confirmed appointments from the Health Department’s email list. Due to large number of email requests (over 200,000), the email address has been temporarily deactivated until those already in the }virtual waiting room” can be accommodated. At this time, the Health Care District is only scheduling vaccination appointments for the individuals on the FDOH waiting list. As more vaccines become available, we will provide public information about scheduling your appointment.

Commissioner Gregg Weiss

Supply – With demand for the vaccine far exceeding supply, large-scale vaccination operations cannot be implemented in Palm Beach County at this time. As the vaccine supply increases over the next several months, efforts will be expanded to include regionally located vaccination centers, Point of Distribution Sites (PODS), clinic operations, and mobile pop-up community sites.

Please be patient and continue to wear a mask, even if you have been vaccinated.

Metrics – Over 100,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Palm Beach County since the outbreak began last March, with over 2,100 fatalities. Daily positivity rate continues to hover around 10 percent.

Town Hall – County officials will host a virtual Town Hall on Thursday evening (January 21) from 7-9PM to address rumors and safety concerns that have been raised by the minority community about the COVID-19 vaccines.

The Town Hall will be carried live on PBC-TV Channel 20. Spots to participate are limited. Registration is required.

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