St. Johns County, FL. — St. Johns County is second in the state for vaccination efforts and has been mentioned several times for Governor Ron DeSantis during his press briefings.
As of Tuesday, 81,293 residents have been vaccinated according to the Department of Health, which is more than 30% of the population.
The public information officer for St. Johns County Fire Rescue said 61,935 doses have been distributed through the Solomon Calhoun Center, which accounts for about 75% of the county’s overall vaccination rate.
“It’s not one person, it’s not one group, we are a collective group and a well-oiled machine,” Greta Hall told Action News Jax’s Robert Grant.
Hunter Conrad, the county administrator, said they’ve used that efficiency as leverage to secure more doses from the state as time went on.
The first vaccines were given out in early January. Hall said they were giving out just a few hundred a week. Now the Solomon Calhoun Center is distributing about 1,600 a day with the capacity to reach closer to 2,000.
Conrad said the county is reaching out to surrounding counties and telling them to have their residents come get the shot in St. Johns.
“It’s very efficient. They move you along right away from station to station,” Vickie Whaling, a Volusia County resident said. She added that it was near impossible to secure an appointment in her home town. “Boom, boom. I was in and out, it was great here.”
Cox Media Group
