COVID-19: No appointment necessary for vaccines in St. Johns County

St. Augustine, FL — Cars wrapped around the St. Johns County Health Department all away out to U.S. 1 as hundreds waited in line to get the Moderna vaccine.

Vaccinations began at 9:00 a.m.

“We were here at 4:30 a.m.,” George MacGown said.

“I’ve been here since about 5:30 a.m.,” Diane Phillips said.

“Got up about 4:30 a.m. I guess. Took me about 30 minutes to get here. My only disappointment was Dunkin Donuts wasn’t open,” Tom Busby said.

The St. Johns County Health Department spent Friday vaccinating people 65 years and older or health care workers.

Unlike Thursday, Friday wasn’t appointment-based. It was first come, first served.

MacGown and his wife were first in line to get the vaccine after they were turned away on Thursday.

“Called us twice last night apologizing for what happened yesterday and sorry for the wait and they were super concerned that we get our vaccine,” he said.

The health department told Action News Jax its system kept crashing, so it made the decision to throw out all its appointments and get as many people as possible vaccinated, regardless of whether they signed up.

The St. Johns County Health Department told Action News Jax it realized there was a lot of confusion and it apologizes.

The department said its system kept crashing with appointments so they decided to switch over to a first come, first served basis.

It’s not just open to St. Johns County residents, but you will need to show a government-issued ID.

Those who got up early to get the vaccine told Action News Jax it was worth the wait.

“Think of the people who are in a hospital waiting for some news of some loved one that may or may not survive this,” MacGown said.

“I would tell anybody who gets the chance to get in line and get it,” Tom Busby said.

The St. Johns County Health Department told Action News Jax the people who received the vaccine today will get the second dose of the Moderna vaccine in 28 days.

However, it’s still trying to work out the details about how that second shot will be administered.

Right now they can only administer 3,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

The St. Johns County Emergency Operations Center has opened a hotline for residents to call with questions about the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 vaccination program. That number is (904) 295-3711. The hotline is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

More information about the vaccination program can be found by clicking here.