ORLANDO, Fla. — Tuesday is the last day that the FEMA-supported COVID-10 vaccination site in Orlando will be open.
The site, which opened in early March, has administered more than 200,000 vaccinations.
What You Need To Know
- The FEMA-supported COVID vaccination site at Valencia College's West Campus closes Tuesday
- The site will administer shots of the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines until 7 p.m.
- Smaller sites throughout Orange County will remain open, including for the second Pfizer shots
- Demand for the vaccine and the number of COVID cases have been dropping nationwide
Several locations in Orange County will remain open where you can get a second dose, or still get a first dose — including the county’s drive-up location at Barnett Park; walk-up sites at Goldenrod Park Recreation Center Gymnasium, Meadow Woods Recreation Center Gymnasium, South Econ Recreation Center Gymnasium, and West Orange Recreation Center Gymnasium; and at any CVS or Publix Pharmacy. More details on the locations and vaccinations available can be found in the Orange County section of Spectrum News 13's guide to COVID-19 vaccination sites in Central Florida.
On the second-to-last day at the FEMA-supported site Monday, Wekiva High junior Jaianna Beachum went on a field trip with her mother to get her first-dose vaccination at the Valencia College West campus.
“I didn’t want to get it," Beachum says. "I had no choice because my mom made me.”
After a year of distance learning, Beachum is eager to go back to face-to-face learning in the fall.
“I’m tired of homeschool, I can’t do it," Beachum says adamantly. "I want to be around other kids at the physical school.”
Since Beachum is only 17, she was ineligible to receive a one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has only been approved for use in individuals 18 years old and up. So in three weeks, she will have to go elsewhere for her second dose because the FEMA site no longer will be open.
“Anyone can come and get that Pfizer vaccine if that’s the one they want," state public information officer Denise Whitehead says, knowing the site will close Tuesday at 7 p.m.. "We are giving them instructions on where they can go afterward if they do get a first dose here.”
Beachum plans on going to Barnett Park.
“I go like June 14th or something, so I will just go up there and get it,” Beachum says.
One dose down for Beachum, one day left for the FEMA site at Valencia College in MetroWest.
With operations winding down, officials say they have been extremely happy with how things have been running.
“It's been a model of efficiency to get 200,000 shots administered in a short time period,” Whitehead says. “At the height, we were seeing 6,000 to 7,000 doses a day. It’s been a model replicated around the country, so we are proud of what we are doing.”
It’s the latest mass vaccination spot to close. On Friday, the Orange County Convention Center shut down its busy operation after nearly six months of steadily offering shots.
Any unused vaccines from the Valencia College West campus site will be redistributed elsewhere in the state.
As of noon Monday, only about 500 people had come to get a vaccination at the Valencia College West campus site, continuing a trend of fewer people seeking shots.
It's a trend ongoing nationwide. As new cases of COVID-19 drop, so too are the number of people getting vaccinated.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the pace of vaccinations is down nearly 50% nationally since April. Medical leaders worry low vaccination rates could lead to a rise in new COVID-19 cases over the summer, especially in southern states.
"Last summer right around June, July, we saw a big surge of cases in the South. Why in the South? Because it gets pretty hot. It's hard to spend time outside," says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health. "People cluster indoors. And if we have large numbers of unvaccinated people in those states, we may very well see a surge in those states."
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says that the more people who roll up their sleeves and get their shots, the number of cases and community risk will decrease.
Nationally, less than 30,000 cases of coronavirus daily are now being reported.
So far, Florida reports that more than 7.9 million Floridians have been fully vaccinated. In Orange County, 44% of the total population has now been vaccinated.
Spectrum News 13 reporter Matt Fernandez contributed to this report.