Manatee County offers vaccines to the public in downtown Bradenton after COVID outbreak
A vaccination clinic will be available for Manatee County employees and anyone else who would like to receive a vaccine following an outbreak in the government’s headquarters.
Friday’s vaccine clinic will take place in the alleyway behind the county’s Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be offered and advance registration is not required for this event.
Officials say the site is accessible for drive-thru and walk-up visitors. To enter the site by car, turn into the county’s parking garage on 10th Street West and head through the alley that exits out onto Old Main Street.
The vaccination opportunity is the county’s latest effort to protect employees after an outbreak of COVID-19 spread through its Information Technology department, hospitalizing four employees and killing two of them. Employees are encouraged to receive a vaccine or continue practicing COVID-19 safety measures.
A similar vaccination event was offered to all county employees at the administration building earlier this week. On-site testing and vaccination were offered to staffers Tuesday morning. Officials said that around 20 people received a COVID-19 test and three people decided to receive the vaccine.
“Becoming fully vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself, your friends, families and coworkers against the COVID-19 virus,” County Administrator Scott Hopes said.
On Tuesday, Hopes confirmed that a sixth employee in the building had tested positive for COVID-19 as well. In a Wednesday afternoon press release, Hopes said contact-tracing efforts have indicated that the case may be an outlier that is separate from the IT Department’s outbreak.
All six cases at the administration building are thought to be among non-vaccinated employees, which highlights the vaccine’s success in protecting people, said Hopes, who holds a degree in epidemiology.
“This particular outbreak demonstrates the effectiveness, I believe, with the vaccine,” Hopes said in a Monday afternoon press conference. “All of the cases were non-vaccinated. We know individuals in these departments who did not contract the infection from their co-workers.”
Facial coverings and other COVID-19 safety measures are no longer required at the administration building, but non-vaccinated guests and employees are asked to wear an N-95-equivalent mask in order to protect themselves and others from the spread of the virus.
None of the staff members who tested positive have entered the building since June 14, according to a press release. However, Hopes is allowing staffers to work from home “until there are no indications of active spread of the COVID-19 virus” in the building.
Hopes also ordered department directors to cut back on in-person meetings, pushing for them to engage in virtual meetings instead. As long as there are no new cases in the building, these guidelines will remain in place until July 1, according to a press release.
Last week’s outbreak led to the temporary shutdown of the administration building where roughly 700 county employees report to work every day. The downtown office also offers a number of public services to county residents.
After Friday’s emergency shutdown, maintenance crews worked to disinfect the building, which reopened on Monday.
For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine and Friday’s vaccine clinic, visit www.MyManatee.org/Vaccine.
This story was originally published June 23, 2021 at 3:31 PM.
