OVIEDO, Fla. – Seminole County health leaders announced they will begin administering the coronavirus vaccine to people over the age of 65 beginning on Monday.
The injections of the Moderna vaccine will be given by appointment at the Oviedo Mall beginning Dec. 28, and the county is capping the injections at 700 doses per day.
Appointments can be made by clicking on prepareseminole.org, or by calling 407-665-0000, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., with the exception of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
The county website was experiencing issues due to the demand from people hoping to secure an appointment. People who qualify for the vaccine can also go directly to Eventbrite to book an appointment.
Residents can also text COVID19INFO to 888-777 to receive notifications when the vaccine becomes available to more groups.
People who do not live in Seminole County also qualify for these doses but everyone must make an appointment. Other Central Florida counties are working to rollout vaccines to people 65 and older soon.
“This is for all of Central Florida, Seminole County just happens to be one of the pilot programs, Orange County right now is doing a dry run like we did last week right now at the convention center so we assume Orange County will probably be open pretty soon and other counties will follow suit very shortly,” Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris said.
Seminole County has received 8,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine but is working to secure more.
On Wednesday, public health clinical workers and emergency medical technicians received the first to two doses of the vaccine.
“I just see it as the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Dr. Todd Husty, Seminole County Medical Director “This is game-changing. This is how we’re going to get rid of this damn thing.”
Husty said his team will move to administering the vaccine to those 65 years old and older beginning Dec. 28.
He said in addition to the Oviedo Mall, staff will be focusing on senior living communities, as well.
“Whether it’s people 65 and older, we still need to think about law enforcement and teachers. We got a lot of groups that probably should go in order to some extent,” he said.
