MANATEE COUNTY – A new round of vaccines have arrived in Manatee County, prompting 311 operators to start booking appointments for Jan. 14. After these appointments are booked, county officials hope that more vaccines will quickly arrive for distribution but they’re not sure when they’ll get here.
During today’s Manatee County commission meeting, Director of Public Safety Jake Saur reported that 1,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine were received on Jan. 11, with 900 of those earmarked to be distributed to area seniors age 65 and older and 100 set aside to be given to first responders and frontline healthcare workers. Saur said that 311 operators began contacting seniors randomly selected from the standby vaccine pool just after the announcement was made to county commissioners at around 9:10 a.m. with the expectation that all appointments would be filled by 4 p.m. today for distribution on Thursday, Jan. 14 at the Tom Bennett Park drive-thru vaccination location.
As more vaccines are received, Saur said there will be more announcements through social media and other outlets about appointments being booked to alert seniors signed up for the standby pool. Unfortunately, he said the timing and amount of vaccines coming to the county are uncertain and sporadic at this time due to vaccine dose availability.
Seniors signed up through the Manatee County standby pool should look for a phone call from 941-742-4300. If 311 operators call and no one answers the phone, they’ll make one more attempt before putting the person’s name back into the system to be randomly selected again at a future date. If you miss a call from 311 operators, you’re asked to not call back, they’ll call you. If you’ve already registered your information with the standby pool there is no reason to register a second time. Any duplicate registrations will be deleted. If you’re having trouble signing up for the standby pool through the website, you can call 311 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to enter your name in the lottery-style pool.
As of today, Saur said that nearly 60,000 individuals or couples have registered in the COVID-19 vaccination standby pool in Manatee County. Given that some of those registrations are couples who are allowed to register together, he said the number of people in the system is closer to 95,600. Manatee County has more than 100,000 residents at age 65 or older. COVID-19 vaccinations in Manatee County are open to anyone meeting the age requirement regardless of residency. Anyone receiving a first dose of the vaccine in Manatee County must receive the mandatory second dose here as well.
The 1,000 vaccine doses were a surprise with Manatee County officials previously told to not expect any first doses this week. Some first responders and frontline healthcare workers who received their first dose of the vaccine in December were already scheduled to begin receiving second doses at the Public Safety Center in east Bradenton on Jan. 13.
To date, Saur said 5,437 vaccines had been administered in Manatee County at either the Bennett Park or Public Safety Center vaccination site. Currently, these are the only two vaccination sites open in Manatee County, though Saur said if needed there are plans to open a third site. Director of Development Jim McDaniel said in an email to The Sun that he’s also volunteered The Center of Anna Maria Island’s Magnolia Avenue campus in Anna Maria as a potential future vaccination site for the county.
With the federal government announcing today that a push is moving forward to have states release the vaccine doses held back to guarantee second vaccines for those people who’ve already received a first one, Saur said he’s unsure of how things will progress now at Manatee County run vaccination sites. He added that he still plans for anyone who’s received a first vaccine dose from the county to be able to receive a second vaccine dose here. Saur said that there is a three- to four-day window for people to receive a second vaccine around the 21- or 28-day recommendation. Pfizer vaccines require the second dose to be administered 21 days after the first dose while Moderna vaccines require the second dose to be administered 28 days after the first dose.
Area seniors can expect to receive a phone call from 311 operators a week before their second dose is due to book an appointment. Saur said that current plans are to administer the second doses at the Public Safety Center with the ability to administer two days worth of second dose vaccines in one day.
Manatee County officials will never ask for any financial information when booking a vaccine appointment. Vaccines received by the county are available to the public free of charge.
For more information, visit the Manatee County vaccine website.
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