Collier County doesn’t have COVID-19 vaccine for general public, prepares for when it does

Six hundred senior citizens in Southwest Florida got the coronavirus vaccine Monday.

Given the limited number of doses of the vaccine available, we know not everyone is going to get it at the same time.

An expert we spoke to says the disparities we’re seeing in Florida could be problematic.

In Lee County, COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out to people 65 and up. In Collier County, there is a different picture.

“The Florida Department of Health in Collier County does not have the COVID-19 vaccine for general public distribution,” said Kristine Hollingsworth, with DOH-Collier.

Hollingsworth told us there is no timeline as to when that will happen.

“When are we going to get it? When is help going to come? When is the cavalry going to come?” said Oscar Alleyne, and epidemiologist and chief of programs and services for the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

Alleyne says he’s heard these questions before, and making counties and residents wait without providing answers can lead to problems.

“We are in widespread community illness,” Alleyne said. “It is frustrating because they are as heavily impacted proportionally by this virus as everyone else.”

At least one concern is people from areas of high infection rates traveling outside their county to get the vaccine.

Alleyne says it can also lead to crowd control issues at vaccination sites and accessibility concerns.

While the vaccine isn’t in place yet, a plan is. DOH-Collier says it will use multiple distribution sites for the vaccine, including walk-up sites and possibly drive-thru sites.

For those who can wait, Hollingsworth says her team is using this time to learn from sites such as Lee County’s.

“We are in calls with the state more than once a week in order to get this information out to the public and make sure and ensure that everything is rolled out safely and smoothly,” Hollingsworth Said.