22 Florida Publix stores will be administering vaccines, but not in South Florida
Publix will be the newest place to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Florida, but only if you are in three counties.
None of the stores are in South Florida, the state’s COVID epicenter.
On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a collaboration between Publix and the Florida Department of Health to distribute about 15,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to people 65 and older in Publix stores.
“It’s our privilege to work with the Florida Department of Health as a distributor of this important vaccine,” said Dain Rusk, Publix’s vice president of pharmacy, in a statement. “We’re grateful to play a role in helping to protect the health and well-being of people at risk of serious complications from the coronavirus.”
This pilot vaccine program will include 22 stores in Citrus, Hernando and Marion counties in central and southwestern Florida. Part of The Villages, the large retirement community in Central Florida, is located in Marion County, the home of Ocala.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the three Southeast Florida counties that have the most coronavirus cases in the state, respectively, will not be part of the initial program.
Maria Brous, Publix Director of Communications, says the company worked with DeSantis’ office in selecting the counties. Some factors important to the state were reaching populations of 65 and older, as well as, reaching more rural areas, Brous said.
Also, vaccination appointments are open to any person 65 and older that lives in Florida. A resident does not need to live in the three counties to get a vaccine at the Publix stores, Brous said.
As of Tuesday, Citrus, Hernando and Marion counties had under 20,000 cases and 500 deaths.
Miami-Dade, by contrast, had 311,606 confirmed cases and 4,257 deaths as of Tuesday. Broward had 143,186 cases and 1,883 deaths, while Palm Beach had 86,839 confirmed cases and 1,923 deaths.
Marion, Hernando and Martin have higher percent positivity rates than South Florida at 13.49%, 11.59% and 11.51%, respectively. The positivity rates for the three South Florida counties ranged from 10.49 to 10.96 percent Tuesday.
Publix vaccinations by appointment will begin Thursday. Each store can schedule about 120 vaccinations per day while supplies last. Those eligible can make an appointment and see store locations at publix.com/covidvaccine.
Vaccinations will be free and patients need to bring an insurance card, a driver’s license or Social Security card.
Publix is not the only commercial pharmacy to administer vaccines.
Walmart, Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más, Sam’s Club and Costco are some of the companies approved in November by the federal government to administer the vaccines to the general public. CVS and Walgreens are also part of that list and are distributing the vaccines to long-term care facilities.
This story has been clarified to note vaccinations appointments are not locked to where a person lives in Florida.
