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All Florida residents 18 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

  • All Florida residents 18 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine
    Publix reopens vaccine portal as all adults in Florida become eligible. All Florida residents 18 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine
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Publix reopens vaccine portal as all adults in Florida become eligible.

COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in Florida opens to all adults.

In addition, those 16 and older can receive the Pfizer vaccine. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have not been approved for minors yet.

Vaccine doses are available at vaccination sites and pharmacies across the state.

Depending on where you go, you will be offered one of the following vaccines: a two-dose Pfizer vaccine with 21 days between shots, a two-dose Moderna vaccine with 28 days between shots and a one-dose of Johnson & Johnson. All have received emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

For example, Publix offers Moderna to those who register on Monday and Friday, while Johnson & Johnson is given to those who register for a vaccine on Wednesday.

Publix has reopened its registration portal for COVID-19 appointments on Monday, the same day that vaccine eligibility opens to all Florida residents 18 and older.

The portal reopened at 7 a.m. By 9:45 a.m., the majority of Central Florida counties were booked up. Some appointments remained in Alachua, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Sumter, and Volusia County.

The Florida Department of Emergency of Management announced Friday that the four federally-supported vaccination sites in the state will transition to the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine starting Tuesday. That means that after Monday, the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine will no longer be offered there.

Then, state vaccination sites, like the one at the Orange County Convention Center, still offer the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. They opened their portal for the first time to everyone on Friday to sign up for appointments this week. All 9,000 filled within minutes.

That site, in particular, said that they expect big crowds over the next three or four weeks. They might have to adjust operating hours since many people work during the day but they have not made any firm decisions yet.

In addition, they might receive more vaccines soon too.  Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said that the White House recently doubled its goal of getting 200 million people vaccinated within President Biden's first 100 days in office.

"By the end of this month, that 100th day in office for the Biden administration will occur so the supply of vaccine will be increasing significantly within the remainder of this month," he said.