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Published: Tuesday, 02 February 2021 14:21
There is a patchwork of systems in place throughout Florida’s 67 counties for getting registered and then receiving appointments to get the Covid vaccine. It is very confusing, to say the least. To try and simplify for us in Pinellas…
Pinellas County residents who only want to go to a location in Pinellas County to receive your vaccine, make sure you are registered at http://PatientPortalFL.com When Pinellas County announces new vaccines are available at https://Covid19.PinellasCounty.org/vaccines/ they will include the date and time the above site opens for appointments. When vying for appointments, you select the location in Pinellas County where you’d like to be vaccinated as there are several locations. As you know, lots of people are vying for appointments so you have to be quick!
For Pinellas residents willing to drive to another county to receive the vaccine the State has a number of counties that opted to go into their Statewide system MyVaccine.FL.gov which was just announced last week (those counties in the Tampa Bay area that are participating in the Statewide system are Citrus, Hardee, Highlands and Hillsborough). When you register at MyVaccine.FL.gov, your place in line will be reserved. Your registration at that site asks HOW you would like to be notified when a vaccine is available for you (phone, text or email). Since at this point Pinellas County has opted out of the State’s system, as a Pinellas resident, you could register and select Hillsborough (or Citrus, Hardee, Highlands) as the county you’d like to drive to in order to receive the vaccine. Selecting Pinellas at this point on this site gets you nowhere since Pinellas has opted OUT of the State’s system for now. Just as a matter of information, in the Tampa Bay area, these counties are NOT part of the Statewide system at this time: Hernando, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota.
As with everything to do with this Florida vaccination process, this information is accurate today but could change at any point.
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Published: Tuesday, 26 January 2021 07:16
For Pinellas residents >65 attempting to get the Covid vaccine, it can be more than frustrating. On January 23rd, 8000 vaccine appointments were made available and, within minutes, the site crashed and all appointments had been booked. With 250K Pinellas residents over age 65, it’s no wonder! Here’s some options for you to consider…
1. Please check with your Primary Care Physician to see if they either HAVE the vaccine or have been told they will be getting it. They may also be of assist to you in getting an appointment through a local hospital.
2. For folks who are willing to drive somewhat of a distance, I offer the first two websites below that you might consider. Nothing is assured, it’s just additional resources that you might try - knowing it involves a drive. As for Publix Pharmacies, it seems the counties that are offering vaccines are the counties with fewer hospitals. We can hope that Pinellas' Publix Pharmacies might be added soon but not likely until vaccine availability is more prevalent. If you are willing to drive, go to this site EARLY, like 6AM, to sign up for an appointment. These appointments book quickly!
3. The next site is our local Bayfront Hospital.
4. The last site is the State’s CDR HealthPro website that booked 10K appointments last week and 8K appointments this morning for Pinellas County.
I hope you will bookmark each of these 3 websites (the bottom 3 below) to check in often to see if they have available vaccines. There could be other websites I am not listing but I’m providing you what I know. Please continue to wear your mask, keep your distance and wash your hands often. Even after you get the vaccine, we’re not out of the woods yet, we’ll still need to keep those masks on when around others.
COVID-19 Vaccine Information, Hillsborough County Updated: 01/20/2021
Hillsborough County is partnering with the State of Florida in operating a drive-thru vaccination site at University Mall, 2200 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33612 for seniors age 65 and older and front-line health care workers.
Appointments are mandatory. No walk-ups will be accepted. To request an appointment please call 1-866-200-3896 or TTY 1-833-476-1029.
While Hillsborough County currently does not have access to the number of vaccines being distributed by hospitals and private health care systems, additional vaccination efforts are underway in this community. Qualified individuals under Phase I of the governor of Florida's vaccination distribution plan are also encouraged to check with their health care provider as they may be able to provide a vaccine.
AdventHealth | BayCare | Suncoast Community Health | Tampa General | USF Health
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Publix Vaccine Information
https://www.publix.com/covid-vaccine/florida
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https://www.bayfrontstpete.com/covid19vaccine
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https://www.patientportalfl.com/s/
If you’ve not registered on this site, do so now. That will save you time when you are vying for an appointment when more vaccines become available.
