LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – COVID-19 immunization sites in Lake County will remain closed Tuesday as local health officials await another shipment of the vaccine, according to the Florida Department of Health in Lake County.
“It just kills us and our public health nurses to say ‘no’ and have to turn people away,” Lake County Health Officer Aaron Kissler said about the decision to shutter sites Monday due to insufficient vaccine supply.
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Most of the 3,000 doses of Moderna vaccine that arrived in Lake County last week were distributed within days.
When the next shipment arrives from Pfizer later this week, health officials will announce immunization sites, dates and times on the agency’s website and social media.
“We have a decent idea (of how many doses we will receive),” Kissler said. “I don’t want to give a number, but it’s much more than our last one. So that’s good news.”
Lake County health officials plan to distribute the next vaccine shipment on a first-come, first-served basis and will not be accepting appointments.
Kissler said he was not aware of any specific problems that would hamper the vaccine from getting to Lake County, instead citing supply chain issues for the county’s current shortage.
“It will firm up. It’s just going to take a while,” Kissler said. “It did the same thing during the H1N1 (pandemic). We’ll get more regular shipments and when we start getting regular shipments, we can do some more appointments.”