SARASOTA – The slow roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine on the Suncoast is facing harsh criticism.
Those qualified to receive the vaccine say securing an appointment is nearly impossible. Today, a spokesperson for the Sarasota County Health Department met with reporters.
“In Sarasota County alone we’ve got right in the neighborhood of 150,000 people who fall into this priority groups,” said Steve Huard, Spokesman for the Sarasota County Department of Health.
When his agency completes its first round of vaccinations this week, Huard says they will have administered doses to barely 3% of the qualifying residents in the county.
As health officials across the state see a high demand for vaccines – Huard says Sarasota County expects to exhaust its supply of the COVID-19 vaccine by Thursday afternoon.
“As of today, we have received in Sarasota County, 4,900 vaccines,” said Huard. “We’re currently able to average out about 100 through the line per hour.”
With two scheduled days of distributing the COVID vaccinations – workers hope to administer 800 per day.
Huard can only hope the vaccinations are going to those who truly need them.
“We really are requesting that people who are not from Sarasota consider waiting to receive that vaccination,” he said. “Because we really need you to be here for the 28 days so that you receive that second vaccination.
Huard urges residents to have patience when working through the EventBrite website. He ads his agency plans to roll out other ways resident can sign up for appointments.
“We had more than 167,000 trying to access EventBrite to access 800 vaccines,” said Huard. “We’re currently on establishing a call-in appointment line as well as some drive-thru clinics for the community as well.”
Details for the call-in appointment line and drive-thru clinics are being worked out by county officials. We’ll be sure to update you with the latest as soon as it becomes available.
To stay up to date Huard says keep a close eye on sarasota.floridahealth.gov