50,000 sign up in first hour for COVID-19 vaccine in Sarasota, plus new residency rules and second doses

More than 50,000 people registered using Sarasota County’s new COVID vaccine appointment system within an hour of opening Wednesday at noon, and the numbers kept growing as the afternoon wore on.

This is “moving along pretty rapidly,” Rich Collins, Sarasota County’s Emergency Services director, said at 1:10 p.m.

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While there were a few issues getting onto the new system early, Collins said 42,000 people signed up in the first half hour, and the county saw that about 1,400 people were signing up per minute.

Collins, along with Chuck Henry, health officer for the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, updated reporters Wednesday afternoon on how the new system was working.

During the 40-minute briefing, they also addressed new residency requirements for receiving the vaccine, when second doses would be available, and why the new system was scheduled to go live at the same time as the inaugurations of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday.

“The system is working very well,” Collins said. “Obviously, there’s a strong push in the community to get the vaccination … we would ask for patience … as the lines are going to be busy the first couple of days.”

The new appointment system works with Everbridge, which is already used for emergency response, and is designed to allow people to sign up for a place in line to get vaccinated. As doses of the vaccine become available, people on the list are assigned appointments.

Just hours after going live, it was already fulfilling its mission as county officials began signing those who were first on the list for appointments at a vaccination clinic on Thursday.

Those at the front of the line were to be notified later in the afternoon about the details of their appointments.

The next group in line will be notified Thursday for a vaccination clinic Friday.

In all, the county’s health department is vaccinating 3,300 people this week.

Collins did say that a person will not lose their place if they are, for some reason, unable to accept an appointment. But those who turn down appointments three times will be moved to the back of the line.

To get their names into the queue for a vaccine, residents can register online at member.everbridge.net/730492332670985/login.

Those without access to or who are uncomfortable with technology can call 941-861-8297 to get their name into the registration system. And county officials have trained local librarians to help residents who come to a library branch to register.

There also is an Everbridge app. Once downloaded, local registration can be found by searching “941 vax.”

For now, the system is reserved for people 65 and older and first responders.

Previously:Charlotte County Publix stores will offer COVID-19 vaccine this week

And:City of Sarasota asks governor for 8,000 vaccine doses to hold vaccination event

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Residency requirement

One new requirement for those getting vaccines is that they must prove they are Florida residents or part-time Florida residents.

Henry said this was being done as part of a statewide effort to cut down on so-called vaccine tourists, people who travel to Florida just to get vaccinated.

Because of the change, he said, people coming to appointments from now on must bring a utility bill, a driver’s license or some other proof that they live in the state either full or part time.

The requirement does not yet appear on the health department’s website along with other required documents, Henry said, but it will be added soon.

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Second doses

Henry said that as new people continue to be vaccinated, the first people scheduled for the second dose will begin getting notified soon.

He said the county has not yet sent out notifications because it is waiting to get a sense of when second doses will be available before setting up vaccination sites.

Moderna, which is what the county has mostly used, has said the second dose should be administered 28 days after the first dose, and Pfizer calls for 21 days between the first and second doses of its vaccine.

Those who need a second dose do not need to register in the new system because the county already has ways to reach anyone who has received the first dose.

“If you’re in that grouping that received (the vaccine) on the 29th, 30th, 31st of December, I anticipate sending notices out perhaps as early as the end of this week,” Henry said. “If not, certainly, we hope, by early next week.”

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More:As vaccine push continues, fears grow about getting 2nd dose in time

Inauguration conflict

Henry also addressed the fact that, during such a politically fraught time, the registration system opened just as Biden was being sworn in as the 46th president and was delivering his inaugural address.

Henry said there was no deliberate effort to distract people from the president’s swearing in.

The plan originally was for the system to go live at 2 p.m., but there was a concern that it was too late in the afternoon to get people information about appointments for Thursday. But, he said, the technical team was not sure it could have the system up and running before noon.

“That’s how we landed on noon,” Henry said. “Certainly, there was no intention to interfere with anything happening at the national level. It’s just the time that worked the very best for all components of the team.”