The first day of the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine in Broward County is less than safe navigation

DAVIE, Fla. – Do not bother to call the Florida Department of Health, Broward County, to request an appointment if you are entitled to a COVID-19 vaccine; the word of the Department of Health is that you have to make the appointment online.

This is a difficult feat considering that the website has been down more often than it has been running. A lot of people have said they’ve been trying to get a date for weeks.

[RELATED: Get the details on Broward County locations: Vista View Park, Davie; Tradewinds Park, Coconut Creek, and, on Tuesday, Markham Park, Sunrise. The website address: https://browardcovidvaccine.com/ NOTE: As of 8 p.m. Sunday, the website was still not working. “We sincerely apologize. This site has been taken down for maintenance in order to serve you better. Thank You.”]

On the first day of the vaccination launch for people over 65 or older, things were less than smooth sailing at Vista View Park, one of two places it opened on Sunday. The other was Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek.

Hundreds of people showed up at Vista View Park and received the vaccine, while others withdrew because they did not have an appointment or were caught in the mess of the website’s crash.

There was a brief window on Sunday morning where the website was up and running, but it crashed shortly after, although FDOH sent a statement that the website was up and running.

At Vista View Park, a line of cars stretched across the park and down a side street for most of the day. The vaccination site against COVID-19 opened at 8 a.m. and was scheduled to remain open until 4 p.m. Sunday.

Jonathan Tabachnikoff, a health worker, accompanied his 74-year-old mother who had an appointment that was made online.

“The line was just around the corner and it took us an hour to get to the entrance to let us know there was a computer error, but if we’re okay to stay, we’ll be welcome and they’d be a couple of ‘hours more,’ Tabachnikoff said.

The two had struggled to find him an appointment until an online site opened this morning.

Other people who showed up today also expected the best after the website protected failed sites repeatedly, even while in full reserve.

Richard Mure was waiting in his car and hoping that when he reached the front line, he could receive a vaccine.

“The place kept working, so we tried to go back, but he said you can’t go back, it’s already registered with an appointment. I hope their technology lives up to tobacco and they have the availability to find my name on it, ”Mure said.

Florida Department of Health information states:

If you have previously registered, you will have received an email confirmation. Check your spam or junk folders. For all future appointments, a confirmation email will be sent within 48 hours of registration.

If you try to register and check that appointments are not available, check back often, as we will be increasing the number of vaccination sites for seniors in Broward County in the coming weeks.

Vaccines will be available at no cost, by appointment only. Appointments can be requested at the vaccination sites conducted at https://browardcovidvaccine.com. Appointments cannot be made by phone at this time.

People who receive a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will automatically receive an appointment for the second dose 21 days later.

Overall, vaccine launches here and across the state have been rocky. The head of the department overseeing the program appears on Local 10’s Sunday news program, “This Week in South Florida,” and explained the difficulties.

“It’s hard to do long-range planning when only a 7-day review is done when the vaccine arrives,” said Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “There’s a lot of hesitation with suppliers on the second shot, again, because we don’t have a good look when the second shot arrives and even though the first delivery of the second shot came.”

Moskowitz said his department is overseeing the launch of the vaccine site and all issues and will assess needs as the week goes on so that things run smoothly. this is the two-shot Pfizer vaccine that was distributed.

The coronavirus testing site in Holiday Park, Broward County, is in the midst of transitioning to a vaccine administration site.

According to the city of Fort Lauderdale, it is working with neighboring cities Oakland Park, Pompano Beach and Wilton Manors to establish a vaccination site against COVID-19.

Once operational, it will be operated on by the Florida Department of Health.

(Below are the recipients of the fact sheet before receiving Pfizer vaccination).