Seniors will soon be able to get COVID-19 shots at Publix, Winn-Dixie stores in Manatee
Seniors will soon be able to get vaccinated for COVID-19 at some Publix and Winn-Dixie pharmacies in Manatee County.
Beginning as soon as Thursday, select retail pharmacies across the country will begin administering the COVID-19 vaccine as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. Florida is expected to receive each week an estimated 65,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine for 490 Publix, Winn-Dixie and Walmart/ Sam’s Club pharmacies in the state, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The locations will include 17 Publix pharmacies and one Winn-Dixie pharmacy in Manatee County. Each is expected to receive 384 doses per week — more than doubling the county’s current total allotment, said Director of Public Safety Jacob Saur.
Currently, Manatee County is receiving 6,100 doses per week, with 5,100 of those going to the county’s drive-thru vaccine site at Tom Bennett Park in Bradenton and another 1,000 doses to MCR Health.
Publix stores in 23 of Florida’s 67 counties — but not in Manatee or Sarasota — had already been vaccinating seniors at the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, but those doses have been distributed from the state’s supply.
Exact addresses for the Manatee County pharmacies to receive vaccine were not provided but include locations in Bradenton, Palmetto, Parrish and Lakewood Ranch.
Appointments are required for those interested in getting the vaccine at a retail pharmacy. For appointments at Publix visit: publix.com/covid-vaccine/florida. For appointments at Winn-Dixie visit: winndixie.com/pharmacy/covid-vaccine.
As of Tuesday morning, there were 33,438 Manatee County residents who had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the health department. Of those residents, there have been 13,417 fully inoculated against the coronavirus.
About 21% of the Manatee’s estimated 113,000 residents 65 and older have received at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Statewide, about a third of seniors have received at least one shot.
Saur, whose department includes emergency management, briefed the board of county commissioners on the federal vaccine program during their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday. He explained that part of the problem has been that the county had no control how many doses of the vaccine they have been allotted.
“The addition of the Federal Retail Program should ease the demand on Manatee’s standby pool,” Saur said.
The federal program will be sending an additional 6,910 doses of the vaccine to the Manatee County pharmacies each week.
“These time frames and numbers may very well change but this is what the initial guidance provided to us by the state and federal government,” Saur said.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 6:11 PM.
