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Vaccine eligibility expands to 50+ on Monday in Florida
Jennifer Holton reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Built for even a Winnebago, Hillsborough County’s latest vaccination site at Larry Sanders Sports Complex will have you in and out, in less than an hour.
"More than likely, like 45 minutes has been the longest," said Ignatius Carroll, the state’s public information officer for Tampa’s vaccination sites.
And with 500 Pfizer vaccines on hand per day, they’re hoping to accommodate the long lines.
"We have people who have traveled even two hours away, hearing that the sites have opened up," Carroll shared.
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Twin sisters Tara and Tina Adiska were some of the few who made the hours-long trip from Naples.
"We just found out like a couple of days ago about these satellite sites," Tara Adiska said. "We’ve been trying for weeks to get a vaccination."
"Seeing how it’s going to shape out because we didn’t qualify until about a week ago when they dropped the age to 60," Tina added.
The eligibility age drops to 50 on Monday.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, Mayor Jane Castor encouraged those 50 and over to get vaccinated and come prepared.
"We expect there’s a large crowd and large demand when the age range is lowered," Castor shared. "There are a lot of ways to monitor the traffic to get in and out."
Governor Ron DeSantis says as age eligibility expands, demand will likely go down. But the lines at these state-sites over the last two days make that hard to predict.
"The flow has been pretty consistent," Carroll said. "We see some increase as the word continues to get out."
Carroll says if you drove out of your county, or several hours to get your first dose, you don’t have to return to the same site for a second shot. It can be done at a closer location as long as it’s the same brand and you’re within the correct time-frame, you’ll be fine.
The Larry Sanders site will be open from Sunday, March 21 to Wednesday, March 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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