Zoo Miami is now a vaccine site. Here’s how you can get a COVID shot there
Zoo Miami’s parking lot is turning into a COVID-19 vaccination site Friday, and its first — and possibly last — patients will be those who booked appointments through Miami-Dade County’s online portal earlier this week.
The county-run drive-thru vaccination site at 12400 SW 152nd St., on the southern edge of West Kendall, is for seniors 65 and older and frontline healthcare workers. Appointments are required, but you won’t be able to get one yet.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins told the Miami Herald that the Zoo Miami vaccination site would first be catering to those who managed to get appointments through Miami-Dade County’s online portal on Monday.
A planned pause in Florida’s vaccine deliveries to Miami-Dade County’s government could also cause Zoo Miami and Tropical Park, another county vaccination site, to shut down as early as next week. The state says it’s because of federal supply cutbacks.
The pause will not affect Zoo Miami’s booked vaccination appointments, which are scheduled through Sunday.
The news comes a day after Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava officially announced Zoo Miami’s vaccine-exclusive status during a news conference at Tropical Park, which also serves as a testing site.
Zoo Miami’s vaccination site will be in the east parking lot to provide direct access without affecting zoo visitors, said Ron Magill, spokesman for the county-owned zoo. Visitors who are not there for the vaccine will park in the west lot.
Miami-Dade County has COVID-19 vaccines. Which one do they have?
Miami-Dade County sites are using the two vaccines that are approved in the United States for emergency use during the pandemic —Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The one you are given will depend on availability. Both require two doses, several weeks apart.
Like at other vaccination sites, once you are injected, you will be guided to park in a waiting area for 15 minutes to make sure there are no adverse reactions to the vaccine.
If you get vaccinated at Zoo Miami or another county-run site, expect to receive an email to schedule your second appointment about a week before the date listed on the vaccination card you’re given after receiving the first injection. You will need to show that card to get your second injection.
And for anyone wondering, yes, you can pay zoo admission and go see the animals after getting your shot. Zoo Miami is open at limited capacity, just make sure you wear a mask at all times.
