COVID vaccination sites are opening across South Florida. But the planning and infrastructure required to vaccinate thousands of vulnerable people is lacking, causing history to repeat itself – long lines, long phone waits, being turned away after hours of sitting, and supply issues based upon eligibility.
The state has not provided data on the racial and ethnic breakdown of who is getting vaccinated at each site.
These are the sites administering the vaccine in South Florida. Appointments are largely booked, but slots will be added as more supplies become available.
State officials were hoping a steady stream of Black residents at a federally supported COVID-19 vaccination site in North Miami Beach would appear on Monday morning, the first day of Florida lowering its vaccine eligibility to anyone over 60.
Instead, the numbers were not what they expected – something that has been repeating itself across Florida’s biggest cities for the last two weeks.
At 11 a.m. Monday, there was virtually no line at North Miami Beach’s city-owned DeLeonardis Youth Center, which was turned into a vaccination site last week, when eligibility was still largely restricted to people over the age of 65, law enforcement officers, school staff and medically vulnerable people with the ability to secure a doctor’s note.
In an effort to close a gap between the low percentage of minority residents receiving vaccinations and Florida’s broader population, the North Miami Beach location — and others supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency but run by the state have been established. The lines, however, have been short, and Michael Joseph, the city’s vice mayor, is one among many who believe the state needs to do much more to increase turnout through public health outreach.
Joseph said he was not aware of any efforts by the state to effectively spread the word in the city, whose population is 42 percent Black. “I know we’ve had low numbers, but I also believe we have to do a lot more when it comes to my community to get people out,” Joseph said. “And that’s going to involve canvassing. It’s going to involve reaching out to people on the phone, not just relying on social media to be the main way for people to come and get vaccinated.”
The state of Florida says the federally supported vaccination sites, set up in greater Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Orlando on March 3, are a success: More than 45,000 of the 101,000 people vaccinated as of Wednesday night were members of the state’s “minority population,” according to recently released official figures.