Vaccine Tourism: People flocking to Florida to get COVID-19 vaccine

Jacksonville, FL. — As seniors in Florida struggle to get the COVID-19 vaccine, some people are flocking to the state in what’s known as vaccine tourism.

Action News Jax’s Alicia Tarancon reports under the state’s current vaccination plan you don’t have to be from Florida in order to get a vaccine.

Martin Firestone is a travel insurance broker in Toronto, Canada working for Travel Secure Inc.

In January he saw an uptick in Canadian clients who originally were going to put a pause on traveling to Florida now booking flights.

That’s because in Florida’s state-run sites. You only need to be 65 and older and need to show proof of residency.

“That basically cued a lot of people interested who said you know what maybe it’s time we go down. We’ll open up our place that we never had any intention of opening and we will go get the vaccine,” Firestone said.

The Prime Osborn Convention Center is a state-run site in Duval County that does require an appointment and asks that you show some form of ID and insurance if you have it, although you don’t need to live in the state.

That has seniors like Patricia Gray worried since there’s already a limited supply of vaccine.

“I think it should be limited to at least Florida residents or snow birds who have property here not people getting here on the plane, getting the vaccine and leaving,” Gray said.

We caught up with Gray as she was getting her COVID-19 vaccine at the Prime Osborn Convention.

She said vaccine tourism is worrisome not only because it’s hard to get a vaccine.

“They could spread the virus and are using up precious resources that were meant for the people of Florida,” she said.

Firestone says most of his clients are Canadian snow birds who own homes in Florida.

He said part of the problem is in Canada the vaccine roll-out is much slower.

“By the time it gets down to 65-year-olds, it is potentially summer-fall which is a long way off and a concern to many people,” Firestone said.

In city-run sites like the Mandarin and Wiley Senior Centers only Duval County residents can get the vaccine.

Cox Media Group