Duval County

Coronavirus: City of Jacksonville to add two more COVID-19 vaccination sites

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The city of Jacksonville is adding more COVID-19 vaccination sites. Mayor Lenny Curry announced the city plans to convert two testing sites -- the Mandarin Senior Center and the Lane Wiley Senior Center -- into vaccination sites.

“It’s an amazing achievement to have a vaccine available so quickly,” Curry said.

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Despite Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order prioritizing people 65 and older, Action News Jax found that only about 35% of all vaccines given out in Florida have been to seniors.

“I’m grateful for my team: community leaders and public servants who are getting plans in place to get this needed vaccine to our first responders, medical workers, and vulnerable populations,” Curry added.

If you ask seniors at the Prime Osborn Convention Center vaccination site, they’ll tell you they’re impressed by how the city is handling the vaccine rollout.

“It was simple. It was easy, there were no lines,” Michelle and Greg said. “One thing I would suggest is they get the consent forms done online as it takes a little time to fill those out,” Michelle added.

Bill Lorenzo and Carolyn Jones also got their shots Thursday.

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“It went great,” Jones said. Lorenzo added, “We walked up here and they had a clipboard with our names on it, and our scheduled times.”

Seniors, finally feeling optimistic about the future, said they already can’t wait for their second round of the vaccine.

“They booked the second appointment for us gave us a little card to bring back. It was very simple,” Greg said.

On Friday, the mayor will share more of the city’s plan for the vaccines at the two new sites.