JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made a stop in Jacksonville Thursday to announce the expansion of Walgreen's retail pharmacy vaccination program.
Walgreen pharmacies across the state will be offering the vaccine at 97 stores starting Friday. People can register in advance by visiting this website.
You'll have to sign in to your Walgreens.com pharmacy account and complete a short eligibility screening. The type of vaccine offered at each location will vary.
Per a state order, those eligible are first long-term care facility residents and staff; persons 65 years of age and older, people deemed medically vulnerable by a physician, health care personnel with direct patient contact, K-12 school employees 50 years of age and older, sworn law enforcement officers 50 years of age and older and firefighters 50 years of age and older.
Starting Monday, persons 60 years of age and older can start getting the vaccine.
DeSantis said that 16 Walgreens stores in Duval County will be offering the vaccine, as well as one in Clay and one in Nassau. Shots will start going into arms on Friday.
So far, DeSantis said close to three million seniors have gotten shots in Florida. More than 63% of seniors in Duval County have received at least one dose with almost 100,000 vaccinated.
He says the next step is to lower the vaccination age to 55 and then open that even more broadly if supply continues the way it’s going
Earlier Thursday in Lake City, he said he's acquiring 1000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be dispersed throughout Columbia County.
"Turns out there's a lot of demand among seniors for the Johnson and Johnson," said DeSantis. "So today we're happy to be able to surge 1000 Johnson and Johnson doses."