COVID vaccine age limit drops to 50. All Manatee adults can register for an appointment
Manatee County is offering 16,400 vaccine first dose appointments to residents 50 years old and older at its two COVID-19 vaccination sites next week, after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the age eligibility will drop to 50 starting on Monday.
The county also announced on Friday it has opened up registration in its COVID-19 vaccination standby pool to everyone 18 years old and older. The decision came after DeSantis also announced on Friday morning he would likely move next to make all adults eligible for a shot by May 1. The governor updated his order later in the day to make the decision official.
“The next logical step would be 18 and up. We decided it was worth it for us to open it up, so when it does open up, we can hit the ground running,” said Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jacob Saur.
All residents ages 18 and older can register with Manatee County’s COVID-19 vaccination standby pool online at: vax.mymanatee.org. Anyone in Manatee County needing help registering can call 311.
Appointment notifications will come from 941-742-4300 for those who ask to be notified by a phone call or from 88911 for those who request a text message. In order to secure the appointment, residents will have a limited time to confirm the offered appointment before it will be offered to someone else in the pool in order to ensure time slots and doses don’t go to waste.
Those who get their vaccines at one of the county’s two vaccine site are given appointments to return four weeks later to get their second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Second doses are always allotted with first doses to the designated providers, so anyone who gets a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine anywhere should always return to the same provider at the designated day and time. for their second dose appointment.
The county had administered first doses to about 78,000 Florida residents through its vaccination sites at Tom Bennett Park, 400 Cypress Creek Blvd., Bradenton, and the Manatee County Public Safety Center, 2101 47th Terrace E., Bradenton, as of Thursday.
Overall, there have been 98,819 people in Manatee County who have received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state health department’s daily vaccine reports. Among those people, there have 44,663 who have already been fully inoculated.
Across Florida, there have been 4,710,033 people who have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 2,617,095 being fully inoculated against the virus.
As of earlier this week, all residents 65 years old and older who had registered with the county had been offered at least one opportunity for an appointment.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 29,786 adults 18 years old or older registered in the county’s COVID-19 vaccination standby pool. Appointments are only offered to those eligible based on their age.
While the county’s weekly allotment from the state is still about 11,000 vaccines a week, extra doses that the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County has are allowing the county to offer 16,400 appointments next week, according to Saur. Some of those extra doses are because of the growing numbers of no-shows for appointments. The county is also no longer having to supply MCR Health with vaccines now that it is getting its allotment from the federal government.
“Next week will be the largest number of vaccine doses Manatee County has administered in one week,” Saur said. “As the age group continues to lower for eligibility of the COVID-19 vaccine, Manatee County will work quickly to adapt and keep up our brisk pace vaccinating residents.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 11:46 AM.
