Orange County is launching a plan to vaccinate more than 65 residents at the Convention Center

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County leaders unveiled plan to vaccinate senior residents and keep the community informed about broader COVID-19 vaccination plans that include a website, app, text, email, and community centers .

On Saturday, the Orange County Department of Health began administering shots to EMTs and paramedics at the Orange County Convention Center.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said starting Tuesday, people age 65 and older can start getting vaccinated at the Orange County Convention Center between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the evening.

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Residents can register at OCFL.net/vaccines, where they can also sign up to receive email updates for more information on vaccine distribution. Here is the direct link to register and this link contains step-by-step registration instructions.

Dr. Raul Pino, Orange County Health Officer, said people who make an appointment will receive reminders of text and email messages and, when it’s time to return for their second dose, will receive reminders again. Residents will make an appointment for their second dose on site once they receive the first dose.

The county will provide updates via text messages if people send a text message to OCFLCOVID at 888777. Leaders are also working to train 311 operators to provide COVID-19 vaccine updates. It is also recommended to download the OCFL Alert app.

For those who do not have smartphones or computers, community centers will offer vaccine registration. In Orange County, East Orange, Taft, Holden Heights and Center Hills community centers will have staff available to help people 65 and older register for vaccine appointments.

In Orlando, the Beardall Center for the Elderly on Delaney Avenue and the L. Claudia Allen Center for the Elderly on Mable Butler Avenue will be available to help residents register, according to the Mayor of Orlando. , Buddy Dyer.

“The deployment of vaccines will take a while and we know it will be a few months before everyone has access to it,” Dyer said. “Wear the mask, help stop it from spreading.”

The goal is to vaccinate 1,500 residents a day at the Orange County Convention Center. Shooting is free, but insurance information will be collected in case the government can be reimbursed.

Pino said residents will receive the Modern vaccine at the site and will be given a card with a batch number in case information is needed in the future.

“This card is important. The system will generate a card and store a card on the website and you will get a physical card and our advice is to take a photo of this card and save it to your mobile device, if you have one, so that you need it. in the future, ”Pino said.

Those who receive the vaccine will have to wait a 15-minute observation period to make sure they have no adverse reactions. Pino said he has not heard from anyone who has any reaction, but doctors and paramedics will be waiting to administer help if needed.

As for other tips, Pino suggested driving slowly and carefully around the site and having patience, as it will be some time before the shots are available to the general population.

“Therefore, what we ask of you is that you only have patience, we will get in touch with you. We are doing everything we can to vaccinate as many people as we can as quickly as we can, ”Pino said.

Also starting Tuesday, mobile pods will enter certain housing complexes in the new section to inoculate residents. Pino said the effort is to ensure that low-income Central Floridians have access to the vaccine.

“We are interested in having access to minority people, of color, with individuals with socioeconomic problems in our society, as well as people who do not have access to health care or providers. Therefore, these mobile pods will focus on this type of population to have access to it, ”Pino said.

On Monday, neighboring Seminole County also began inoculating people over 65. The vaccine site is located inside the Oviedo shopping center and residents must also make an appointment.

For more vaccine distribution plans in Central Florida County, click here.