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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Walmart and Sam’s Club locations across the state of Florida will begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations Friday as part of the federal Retail Pharmacy Program.
Gov. Ron DeSantis made the announcement during a briefing in front of a Walmart pharmacy in Jacksonville Tuesday afternoon, saying 119 Walmart stores and Sam’s Club in 34 counties would offer the shots to people 65 and older.
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Announcements
“And that exceeds 30% of his total footprint in Florida, which is a really good start,” DeSantis said. “So about 25,000 doses for Walmart’s part of the mission. And I think they have a fantastic plan. They’re spreading it pretty far.”
In total, Florida is scheduled to receive 65,300 doses through the Federal Pharmacy Program, 25,000 of which will go to Walmart and Sam’s Club locations. With 119 locations sharing about 25,000 doses, each location would get about 210 doses, if distributed evenly.
“You don’t have to be a Sam’s Club member to be able to take a chance at a Sam’s Club pharmacy, which we obviously appreciate a lot because we want it to be as broad as possible,” DeSantis said.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced Monday that 17 Walmart stores and Sam’s Club in Orange County will be part of the federal retail pharmacy program. At the time, the mayor said stores would vaccinate about 300 people a day.
Announcements
Publix and Winn-Dixie will also receive more doses of vaccine thanks to the federal program, according to the governor.
“Publix will also get more doses than they had been receiving only from the state and therefore will also be extended,” DeSantis said. “So right now they’re in 325 pharmacies in 23 counties. As of the end of this week, they’ll be close to 600 public stores across the state in 41 counties.”
A statement from the governor’s office clarified that there are currently 324 Publix locations offering vaccines through its association with the state and that 269 new locations would begin offering doses with their federal government allocation. Vaccines will be administered at all 593 Publix locations statewide. Publix operates 756 pharmacies across Florida.
Announcements
DeSantis did not say how many doses Publix or Winn-Dixie would get from the federal government.
The Publix website now lists the availability of appointments in Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties. You can find more details about these appointments and locations here.
Winn-Dixie will offer vaccines at 43 of its locations, including stores in Brevard, Lake, Marion, Sumter and Volusia counties, according to the governor’s office. There is no word on how many doses the grocery chain allocates for the federal government. You can find a full list of locations that offer dating here.
Announcements
According to the governor, the doses arriving in Florida from the federal program will be higher than the 325,000 doses the state has already allocated. This would bring the total state allocation to about 390,300 doses.
However, even with the added doses coming from this federal program, DeSantis predicted that it would still be some time before state vaccination plans expanded beyond health care workers, first aid and population aged 65 and over in the state.
“This puts us in a range where it will take us a couple more weeks to really spend it on probably all the seniors who really want it,” DeSantis said. “I know there are people who don’t get to 65 and over, who do … who are eager to get it. We want to get it.”
People who want to make appointments at Walmart locations can go to walmart.com/covid or samsclub.com/covid to get appointments at Sam’s Club locations.
Announcements
The governor said Publix will offer more vaccination appointments this week as well. The store said its online dating registration portal will open at 7 a.m. Wednesday. Appointments can be made at publix.com/covidvaccine.
Appointments with Winn-Dixie can be made at winndixie.com/pharmacy/covid-vaccine.
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