ORLANDO, Fla. – Publix will not be opening its portal on Wednesday for residents to schedule a coronavirus vaccine appointment as a massive snowstorm in other parts of the country has caused a delay in shipments of the shots.
The portal was supposed to open at 7 a.m. and include openings at stores across Florida. It’s unclear if the portal will open on Friday as scheduled.
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Officials from the grocery store chain said appointments that were already scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday will not be impacted.
“We know how important administering this vaccine is, so we deeply regret the need to cancel Wednesday’s scheduling event. Once additional vaccine is received, we will announce the next opportunity for vaccine appointment scheduling,” Publix Director of Communications Maria Brous said in a news release.
Anyone interested in securing an appointment is asked to visit publix.com/covidvaccine for the latest information.
[WATCH: Publix vaccine portal won’t reopen as planned as brutal storm causes shipment delays]
In Central Florida, officials in Orange, Osceola, Marion and Brevard counties said Tuesday that they aren’t expecting the snowstorm to affect their shipments or planned vaccination events.
However, Gov. Ron DeSantis said weather conditions are impacting vaccine shipments across the state. On Twitter, he said The Florida Department of Health and its partners are providing regular updates to “ensure the vaccine is distributed as efficiently as possible as it arrives.”
Weather conditions across the United States are impacting the shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine to Florida. @FLSERT and @HealthyFla are providing regular updates to our partners to ensure the vaccine is distributed as efficiently as possible as it arrives.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 16, 2021
A tornado has killed at least three people in a seaside town in North Carolina, one of many wild and deadly impacts from a sprawling blast of winter weather across the United States.
Millions of people in Texas are still without power amid subfreezing temperatures. Authorities say it’s too treacherous to travel in many states. Record lows include minus 38 degrees recorded in Hibbing, Minnesota.
The National Weather Service says this massive winter storm that immobilized the Southern Plains was expected to bring more heavy snow and freezing rain from the South to the Northeast on Tuesday.