Sarasota County Received 1,000 Surprise Vaccine Doses Monday: DOH

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — The Department of Health in Sarasota County received a surprise shipment of 1,000 coronavirus vaccine doses Monday afternoon, Steve Huard, a DOH spokesperson said via email.

The doses arrived not long after he held a virtual news conference telling the media that the county wouldn’t receive more of the vaccine this week, and he wasn’t sure when its next shipment would be.

The DOH will announce its distribution plan for these 1,000 doses sometime Tuesday, he said. The county previously had no vaccine clinics planned.

Additionally, all appointments to receive the second dose of the vaccine are canceled and will be reschedule, Huard said during the news conference. When the DOH first began vaccinating people in Sarasota, it automatically scheduled follow-up appointments for the booster shot.

The DOH is alerting these individuals about the cancelation of their second appointments and will find a more effective way to distribute the second vaccine, likely at a drive-thru clinic, Huard said. “We don’t want that many people coming to our main Ringling location for the second dose.”

For those concerned about receiving their second dose on schedule — 21 days after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 28 days for the Moderna brand — Huard said they shouldn’t worry. Those timeframes are an approximation, and the effectiveness of the vaccine won’t be impacted if they don’t receive the booster shot exactly 21 or 28 days after the first.

Moving forward, the DOH will likely host vaccination clinics as drive-thru events utilizing different locations throughout the county. One likely venue will be Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota, Huard said. “It’s not a final solution. We’re looking at many other areas throughout the community.”

Ideally, the DOH will identify neighborhoods where residents don’t have access to a car or other means of getting to vaccine clinics and will also try to reach those who are homebound, possibly working with home health care providers, he added.

As of early Tuesday morning, 17,897 people in Sarasota have received at least the first of the two coronavirus vaccine doses, according to state data.

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Florida has launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Report that will be updated daily at www.FloridaHealthCOVID19.gov. This report includes a breakdown of who has received the vaccine by age, race, sex and county.

For more information about coronavirus and its vaccinations in Sarasota County, visit www.SarasotaHealth.org.

Residents can also sign up for Sarasota County's emergency alert system by texting "SRQCOVID19" to 888777. The county will send text alerts when vaccination registration is available.