BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward County Mayor Steve Geller held a news conference Tuesday morning at the Broward Governmental Center to discuss the county health department’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts and the issues that have occurred with its website.
The Department of Health in Broward County currently has three locations open where seniors 65 and older can receive the vaccine.
The sites are only open to those who book an appointment online via browardcovidvaccine.com, however the website has experienced issues since launching last week, leaving many people frustrated.
74-year-old Silvia Plaxe told Local 10 News’ Christina Vazquez that on Sunday she secured a COVID-19 vaccination appointment at the Florida Department of Health site in Davie for Tuesday.
When she showed up for her appointment, workers turned her away.
“There is someone there that says, ‘uh, we have no more left. Sorry, sorry, no more left. We used them all up,’” Plaxe said. “I said, ‘What do you mean you used them up? I have an appointment.’”
The FDOH in Broward County said Tuesday that there was a scheduling glitch and that people like Silvia will need to reschedule their appointments.
Geller said the crashing of the website has been due to the high volume of people who have been trying to make an appointment and said that more appointments will be available as more vaccination sites open.
According to the mayor, the health department plans to open eight locations and will be able to vaccinate about 20,000 people per week -- possibly more.
“As each new Department of Health location opens, they will reopen the Broward County website for new reservations for the first three weeks at that location,” Geller said. “Also, the Florida Department of Health in Broward will reopen the website as they vaccinate each week so that they’ll always stay about three weeks ahead.”
Below is a list of the vaccination sites currently being offered by the Department of Health in Broward County:
>Tradewinds Park, 3600 West Sample Road, Coconut Creek.
>Vista View Park, Southwest 142nd Avenue, Davie.
>Markham Park, 160001 West State Road 84, Sunrise.
According to Geller, the Florida Department of Emergency Management has set up vaccination “pods” at the following three senior condominium communities:
- Century Village in Deerfield Beach
- Kings Point in Tamarac
- Wynmoor Village in Coconut Creek
Hundreds of people waited in line on Monday at the location in Tamarac and some came out early again on Tuesday.
The team working at Kings Point told Local 10 News things were running smoothly Tuesday.
“They’ll be going through the process where they register. We’ll check for symptoms, make sure there’s no symptoms that will prevent them from getting the vaccine today, then we will do a basic health check,” Christopher Todd, a representative from the Florida Department of Health, said.
Todd said those administering the vaccine will have the patient stay sitting for 15 to 30 minutes after receiving the vaccine to ensure they do not experience an allergic reaction.
Geller said there is a limited number of vaccines available at each of the condominium locations, and they’re available only to residents. Each community is establishing its own procedures to administer the vaccines and how to register to get one.
The mayor said the Department of Health in Broward County has already administered vaccines at all nursing homes in the area and will begin administering the second doses to residents beginning Tuesday. Nursing home residents who missed the first dose may also receive their first dose Tuesday.
CVS and Walgreens will be administering the vaccines at assisted living facilities.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is scheduled to provide an update on Miami-Dade’s vaccination plan at 3 p.m. Tuesday.