Charlotte County changes vaccine process for faster distribution

The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County says it will change its COVID-19 vaccine distribution process in order to get the shots out much faster.

FDOH-Charlotte is trying to keep up with the demand by changing how it handles its supply.

Joseph Pepe, the administrator for FDOH-Charlotte, said at first, they spread it out over the course of a week. Now, they’ll distribute as quickly as they receive.

“The issue with that is when they’d run the report, it looked like we had several hundred sitting in our supplies. Now what’s happening is we’ve made the commitment that as fast as we get it, we are pushing them out,” he said.

Anne Lennon relies on photos to see her great-grandchildren. She hasn’t yet met the two youngest.

“Our family lives up north and we want to go visit them and we’re not going to take a chance to bring anything up to them.”

When the time comes, she puts the pictures down, fires up her computer and prays she gets a vaccine appointment.

“This morning, my computer conked out, so I was on my iPad and my phone.”

More than 16,000 people in Charlotte County have received at least one dose of the vaccine, an increasing number as we get more and more sent to our area.

“There may be some start and stops, but recognizing that the state will continue to increase vaccine supply to hopefully support a continuous operation,” Pepe said.

An operation that will reunite seniors like Lennon with family.

“That’s going to be the light at the end of the tunnel for sure,” she said.

About 8.5% of Charlotte County’s population received at least one dose of the vaccine, similar to Lee County’s vaccination rate.

Collier County leads our area with 10.5% of the population partially vaccinated.