Manatee County ramping down vaccine efforts. First-come, first-serve event draws only 330
Staff sat and stood around at the Manatee County-run vaccine site at Tom Bennett Park in Bradenton mid-morning Wednesday. The county’s drive-thru site, which is capable of vaccinating about 2,600 people a day, was open for four hours, but for the first time was not requiring appointments.
Only 330 residents took advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated, most arriving just after the site opened at 8 a.m. By mid-morning, only a handful of cars sat in the waiting area for the required observation period.
That despite only about 40% of Manatee County residents have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Manatee County Department of Public Health and the Florida Department of Health Manatee County were prepared to vaccinate up to 1,000 people. Currently, there are no other vaccine events scheduled at Tom Bennett and officials will meet soon to decide whether to close the site.
The other county-run vaccine site, at the Manatee County Public Safety Center, will hold its last day of second doses on April 30 and will then close. Appointments still stand for anyone who has a second dose scheduled.
“The bad news is as we trend in younger (people), there is just not a demand to keep operating the very labor intensive drive-thru vaccination center,” Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jacob Saur said. “But there’s many places to get vaccinated now. Physicians’ offices are beginning to order them, retail pharmacies have the vaccine and MCR Health offers the vaccine.“
Saur has previously expressed concerned about the demand for vaccine dropping while so many people are not vaccinated.
As of Wednesday, there were 161,326 people in Manatee County who have received at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state. Only about 26% of residents, or 103,154 people, have been fully inoculated.
Among the few residents who came through the Tom Bennett vaccine site mid-morning was Bradenton resident Arlene Benjes, 83.
“It is really organized. Really so organized I can’t believe it, how fast it’s gone and how nice everyone is,” Benjes said.
Her husband, Bert Benjes, 86, was sitting in the driver’s seat but had already gotten both doses of a vaccine. The couple weren’t vaccinated together because she had an infection, and her doctors wanted her to wait until she was off antibiotics.
Two weeks after being cleared by the doctor, she was glad to be vaccinated on Wednesday, she said.
“We’re going up north for our granddaughter’s wedding in July,” her husband added.
Manatee County’s Department of Public Safety, which includes the division of emergency management, will begin shifting its focus now.
“Hurricane season is coming. We tried and tried and tried to find an indoor facility but they are just not available in Manatee County,” Saur said. “While drive-thru vaccine site are very convenient and we run one of the best in the state, it is not very conducive to hurricane season.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2021 at 4:27 PM.
