JACKSONVILLE, Fla — One step closer to normal. The state of Florida is now vaccinating those 40 and older.
Some websites like Walmart and Winn-Dixie have yet to update their website to reflect the eligibility expansion as of 6 a.m. Monday but know that you are in fact eligible if you are 40 or older in the state of Florida on March 29th.
If you can't find an appointment through a pharmacy, the Regency Mall state site in Jacksonville is taking walk-up appointments.
Gateway Mall vaccine site will be giving 500 first doses a day. This site is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can pre-register at myvaccine.fl.gov.
As of April 5, everyone 16 and older in Florida will be eligible.
Florida is the state with the highest number of confirmed cases of the UK strain of coronavirus, which is more contagious. To top that off, spring break parties like the ones we’ve seen in Miami Beach have been a concern for medical providers.
"Those people that are in that 18 and up age group, 18 to 40, right now are not currently eligible under most Florida guidelines but they’re the ones that are spreading COVID," said Chad Neilsen, Director of Infection Prevention at UF Health Jacksonville. "They’re the ones that are new positivity cases.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, more than 3.2 million Floridians have been vaccinated. Nationwide, CDC data shows about 15.1% of the nation is fully vaccinated meaning they have received their first and second dose.
