Charlotte County begins vaccinations Wednesday

This week’s rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Lee County has seen long lines and many sitting out in the cold overnight just to try to get a dose. Charlotte County offered vaccines with a different approach.

Outside Charlotte’s vaccination sites Wednesday morning was a sight starkly different from Tuesday in Lee: no lines, as the county required appointments, and the vaccines were given as a drive-thru service.

That doesn’t mean the process was entirely seamless, though. After appointments were announced, hundreds of people logged on to get their spot, and the traffic crashed the website. One woman in Port Charlotte says she doesn’t know if appointments are the best way to do this.

“What about all these really elderly people in their 70s, 80s and 90s that don’t have a computer or can’t see well enough to see a computer or can’t sit at a computer?” said Paula de Rienzo.

For one couple, it was their second attempt at getting the vaccine, and they said Lee County could learn a few things from the way Charlotte County handled their event.

“This was a piece of cake; whoever thought of this did a good job,” said Vito Verni of Estero.

He and his wife, Janet, were one of the lucky ones. They got an appointment, drove through the line and got their first shot – no need to even get out of their car. That was in stark contrast to their experience in Bonita Springs on Tuesday.

“I felt sorry for them, the older people … we got there at 3:30 in the afternoon, they were there already, the first lady online and a chair with the lantern and a blanket, this is the day before,” Janet said.

Joseph Pepe, director of the Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County, says Wednesday is being used as a trial run, after which changes can be made. But the appointments will not change; they don’t want anyone waiting outside in a line for hours.

“We knew that we’re the second-oldest county in the state as far as by age, we just didn’t want our most vulnerable people camping out all night to get a vaccine,” de Rienzo said. “It’s just the safer way to do it by appointment.”

More than 200 vaccines were administered in about two and a half hours Wednesday.

Punta Gorda residents Debra Rakowitz and her husband were among those receiving a dose, and Rakowitz said it was “quick and painless.”

The DOH-Charlotte said the only change for the next round is to get more vaccines and more staff.

“We all got kind of thrown into this really quickly; we had about 24 hours to come up with a plan,” said Edwardo Gonzalez, vaccine coordinator with the health department. “The process was created previously and we kind of tweaked it a little bit just to see how it went because we didn’t want to have a massive amount of individuals waiting too long and then clogging the roads.”

The county says all appointment slots are filled for next week, but more vaccine dates will be announced Jan. 6. WINK News will post that information online once it’s released.

The shot is free, and you don’t need to be a Charlotte County resident to get vaccinated. Health care workers will need to bring a copy of their ID badge or their current pay stub.

For those that got a dose Wednesday and will need a second dose, you’ll have to go back to the website you first registered on to make an appointment for the second dose. The appointments will be available once the health department gets more doses.

They are working on a way to label those coming back to make a second appointment on the website. The DOH doesn’t see that happening next week.

https://winknews.com/2020/12/29/covid-19-vaccine-schedules-for-swfl/