MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – There were long lines of cars on Monday at the COVID-19 vaccination site at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The drive-thru site requires appointments.
The lines were also long at Miami Dade College North Campus in Westview where walk-ins are welcome. The outdoor wait was long enough that people are allowed to bring their own chairs and water.
Mike Jachles, a spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said the sites have more supply. Gov. Ron DeSantis expanded vaccine eligibility to people who are age 60 and older.
“We are going to see a busy few days as people come out and get the vaccine,” Jachles said.
A prior expansion included school employees, firefighters, and law enforcement personnel who are age 50 and older. Younger patients who doctors deem to be vulnerable are eligible with a signed COVID-19 Determination of Extreme Vulnerability form.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Monday that the goal of the federal government continues to be to get as many people as possible vaccinated against COVID-19.
Fauci said people need to avoid being fixated on the “elusive number” needed for herd immunity, a form of indirect protection when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune.
“We should just be concerned about getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can,” Fauci said.
According to the Florida Department of Health, 2,323,366 had completed the COVID-19 vaccine series in Florida as of Sunday, including 199,626 in Broward and 251,973 in Miami-Dade.
Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said only 3% of people in the U.S. have missed the second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are turning the corner,” Walensky said, adding the U.S. death rates are continuing to decline.
The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been available at the site at Miami Dade College, 11380 NW 27th Ave., in Westview, and at the two satellite locations at 1401 Westward Dr. in Miami Springs and at 1770 NE 162 St., in North Miami Beach.
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