- April 18, 2024
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Flagler County will likely get a new allotment of COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday, Jan. 19, Florida Department of Health-Flagler Health Officer Bob Snyder said on Flagler Broadcasting's "Free For All Friday" radio program Jan. 15. Officials do not yet know how many doses will be available.
Another shipment is expected to arrive on Friday, Jan. 22, containing second doses for people who've already received their initial dose. Those will be available to Florida residents who received their first dose in Flagler County, even if they live in a different Florida county.
At this time, only people 65 and older and healthcare workers are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines in Florida.
Studies are showing that the first dose of the Moderna vaccine — the one that's been distributed in Flagler — provides significant protection, Department of Health-Flagler Medical Director Dr. Stephen Bickel said, citing a recent study of 1,000 people.
"They found that starting at 14 days after the first shot, there were almost no cases before the second shot," he said. "... That’s true, actually, with booster vaccines in general; usually there's a level of protection with the first and then you get kind of turbo-charged with the second dose."
"Until these numbers start coming down, people need to be just hyper-vigilant."
— DR. STEPHEN BICKEL, medical director, Florida Department of Health-Flagler
Flagler rapidly used all 1,700 Moderna vaccine doses that have so far been made available to the county by the state, then created a callback list that has topped 4,000 names. There are approximately 36,000 people over the age of 65 in Flagler County.
Meanwhile, Snyder said, a state appointment program is expected to become operational within a month, and local Publix stores are receiving allotments of vaccine weekly and setting appointments for people 65 and older (check appointment availability HERE.)
And although demand for the existing Moderna and Pfizer vaccines currently far outstrips the supply, that will likely change as Johnson & Johnson and Astra Zeneca come out with their own vaccines in coming weeks, Bickel said.
"We’re going to go from rags to riches," he said.
Once that happens, Snyder said, the health department will transition from its focus on testing and contact tracing to a focus on vaccination, sending teams of nurses out to vaccinate residents at sites around the community at a rate of about 1,000 people per day.
But Snyder and Bickel warned residents to remain cautious in the meantime, as the virus surges.
"Until these numbers start coming down, people need to be just hyper-vigilant," Bickel said. "There’s this kind of disconnect between how bad it is out there and how much people perceive it to be bad. ... People are getting more desensitized to it, but there’s just a ton of cases."
