Friday drive-thru vaccination pod in Okeechobee is by appointment only

Posted 2/11/21

Okeechobee County will host a vaccination pod on Friday, Feb. 12 at the Okeechobee Agri-Civic Center, by appointment only.

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Friday drive-thru vaccination pod in Okeechobee is by appointment only

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 OKEECHOBEE – Okeechobee County will host a vaccination pod on Friday, Feb. 12 at the Okeechobee Agri-Civic Center, by appointment only.

Appointments are managed through the state waitlist system. To add your name to the waitlist go online to
myvaccine.fl.gov or call 866-201-1060.

“Last week we had a pod that did 500 people,” Commission Chair Terry Burroughs said at the Feb. 11 commission meeting. “I think each person who participated in that did an excellent job. We had a couple things we are going to fix, but the people worked together as a team.”

He noted Commissioner David Hazellief and Commissioner Brad Goodbread were out there cooking to feed those working at the site. Everybody did a great job putting that together, he said.

“This week we implemented the reservation system. That should solve the problem of people arriving so early to get in line,” he said.

County Public Safety Officer Ralph Franklin said the county plans to give 450 first doses of the vaccine at the drive-thru pod on Friday. "It is by appointment," he said.

“Those people who have the appointments are the ones who are going to get the shots,” he said. “If you don’t have a reservation, you stand a good chance that you are not going to get a shot. You are going to be turned away.

“This drive-thru pod we are doing tomorrow is for the first shot of Moderna,” he explained.

He said they plan to hold vaccination pods once a week depending on the vaccine allocation the county receives from the state.

Commissioner David Hazellief said they should make plans to move the vaccinations under cover if the weather is bad. He said they could route the cars so they drive through the arena if needed.

“We’ll work on making that happen,” said Franklin.

Mitch Smeykal of the Emergency Operations Center said the appointments for Friday’s vaccination pod were made through the new state system.

He said those who added their names to the state waitlist online have been given a QR code which will be scanned in when they arrive.

He said staff will have to look up the appointments for those who do not have internet access and made an appointment over the phone. “Those are the ones we will have to look up in the system to verify they have an appointment,” he said.

All of those seeking vaccination will need to fill out and sign the consent forms.

“Everybody is still going to have to fill out paper forms,” said Smeykal. Those forms are available for download online or can be picked up at the Okeechobee County Public Library, 206 SW 16th St, Okeechobee.

“The good news is the people who come with their appointments and all the proper documentation will leave with a shot in the arm,” said Owens. She said that will reduce a lot of the anxiety and frustration.

Those with appointments have been given an appointment time and advised they should not arrive more than 30 minutes before their appointment.

Burroughs said as they are working out the plan for the second doses for those who receive their vaccinations at the drive-thru pods. Those who received their first doses at the health department will be contacted by the health department to schedule second doses.

Smeykal said to date, 3,374 people in Okeechobee County have been vaccinated and of those, 1,276 have completed their second doses.

He said since March 2020, Okeechobee County has had 69 covid-related deaths.

Smeykal said he has received confirmation from the state that Publix and Walmart in Okeechobee will be COVID-19 vaccination points. Both will make appointments online on their own websites.

“The problem is still supply,” said Smeykal. He said it is looking more and more like covid vaccinations will “become an annual thing” just like flu shots.

Franklin said the next scheduled food bank visit will be Feb. 19, from, 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Okeechobee Agri-Civic Center.

In other business, Interim County Administrator Louis Johnson reported Health Officer Tiffany Collins resigned on Feb. 10.  He said a temporary person has been assigned by the Florida Department of Health. He said DOH will contact Okeechobee County to set up short term and longterm plans.

"It has become painfully clear we have no authority over the position," said Owens. "However, when we do look at the longterm plan, if we can come to some kind of agreeable accountability process, so we don't have things build to where they have in the past."

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