- May 5, 2024
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Aiming to top the state's list of counties for the highest percentage of residents vaccinated, the Florida Department of Health in Flagler County is planning to shift into a new phase of its vaccination efforts.
"Supply is now exceeding demand, so we are going be launching Phase 2," FDOH-Flagler Health Officer Bob Snyder said on Flagler Broadcasting's "Free For All Friday" program April 16.
That will mean closing down the vaccination site at the county fairgrounds in coming weeks but tripling community vaccination sites, including ones at businesses for employees: Coastal Cloud will be among them, as well as a number of bars and restaurants, Snyder said. The health department also expects to soon offer vaccines appointment-free.
So far, Snyder said, a total of 47,357 Flagler County residents have been vaccinated, making up 41% of the county's residents and 77% of residents over the age of 65.
All of the vaccines have proven effective against the UK COVID-19 variant, which is now the predominant one in Florida, said Dr. Stephen Bickel, the FDOH-Flagler medical director.
For now, appointments for the Moderna vaccine are still available at the fairgrounds site (go to https://myvaccine.fl.gov to sign up), and the health department will be offering vaccines at Food Truck Tuesday at Town Center in Palm Coast, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 20.
The county's Emergency Management department will be offering the Pfizer vaccine for people 16 and up at the Flagler County Emergency Operations Center on April 23 (for more information and to register, go to https://flagler-covid.eventbrite.com), while planning is underway for evening Moderna vaccination appointments at the county airport at 120 Airport Road.
A number of local pharmacies are offering vaccination appointments (see a list at http://www.flaglercounty.org/emergency_information/emergency_management/covid-19/index.php), although Johnson & Johnson vaccinations have been delayed while the CDC investigates potential connections between the vaccine and a rare form of blood clotting that occurred in six women shortly after taking it.
"It looks to me that it’s probably real … because it’s a very unusual type of blood clotting that you just don’t see in the general population," Bickel said. "It’s looking like one in a million cases now, so extremely rare, but pretty dangerous. ... It also highlights in the incredible safety of the mRNA vaccines, the Moderna and Pfizer, where we've done 100 million and nothing like this has shown up."
With many appointments available for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Snyder said, people who'd signed up for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine but had their appointment canceled can opt for one of the mRNA vaccines instead.
For more information on vaccinations and how to set an appointment, go to http://www.flaglercounty.org/emergency_information/emergency_management/covid-19/index.php.
