Mishkin's Musings: Helping navigate vaccine eligibility and site location

On Monday, the state of Florida lowered the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility age to 50 and older. I am 51 and on Monday afternoon, I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. A few weeks ago, state eligibility had been extended to teachers. My wife Dulcie is an educator - she got her first Pfizer dose last Thursday.
For those who have yet to reach eligibility, the process of finding a site and potentially scheduling an appointment can seem daunting. (It was to me before actually going through it). Where is the information on-line? How difficult will it be to find a location? Do I need an appointment? If so, how hard is it to get one? Would I need to wake up at the crack of dawn to secure a spot?
The purpose of today's column is to share my experience and Dulcie's experience. How we each found a site. What happened when we got there. And to pass along the website addresses that greatly helped facilitate the process.

Florida residents - and, more specifically, those who live in the Tampa Bay area - can get vaccinated at sites that fall into one of four categories: Federally-Supported, State, County, or at participating pharmacy chains. Dulcie received her shot at a County site. I got mine at a Federally-Supported one. (There are other avenues that exist - such as though certain hospitals or health centers - but neither my wife nor I explored those routes. Those of you who are veterans also have the option of going through the VA.)
In Hillsborough County, you can find the specific locations at this link:
https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/residents/public-safety/covid-19-vaccine
.
So where is a good place to start? Eligible Florida residents may pre-register with the state through this website:
myvaccine.fl.gov
. That'll save you a place in line. When your turn comes up, you'll receive a phone call and have the chance to arrange an appointment time and location.
Dulcie wasn't aware of this pre-registration site when she scheduled her appointment at a County location - more on how to do that momentarily. When the state announced last Friday that it was lowering the age to 50 (making me eligible) beginning on the following Monday, one of our neighbors informed us of the
myvaccine.fl.gov
site. So I pre-registered over the weekend. While I didn't receive a call on Monday - and I went ahead and got a shot at a Federally-Supported location - I was contacted on Tuesday. So only about 48 hours elapsed between me submitting my pre-registration and getting a call for an appointment. Of course, by then I no longer needed one. I informed the representative that I had already received my first dose. She thanked me and made a note in my file.
Earlier in the month, Dulcie secured her appointment by going through
patientportalfl.com
. She set up an account, provided her medical history, and immediately was able to schedule her vaccination at one of three County locations. At the time that she accessed the scheduling calendar, the first appointments were available within a couple of days. She wasn't able to go later that same week. So she scheduled her shot for the following week, on March 18. We live in Brandon and she picked the Vance Vogel Sports Complex in Gibsonton.
Her scheduled time was between 9 am and 10 am. We drove together on Thursday morning, arriving about 9:20. The shots were being administered under a big tent. We pulled up just short of the tent, where she showed the attendant her printed-out form with a bar code confirming her appointment. There were no cars in front of us. The attendant checked her in and gave her a bar-coded sticker that was placed on the inside of the car. We proceeded to the area under the tent. The healthcare professional scanned the sticker and, with my wife still in the car, administered the shot. She also provided Dulcie with a COVID Vaccination Record Card. It listed the details of her first shot and included the bar code for a scheduled second dose appointment, taking place three weeks later between 9 am and 10 am at Vance Vogel.
We pulled forward out of the tent and went into a line of about 10 cars lined up near the exit. The people in those cars also had just received their shots and were waiting the required 15 to 30 minutes (depending on one's medical history) to ensure there wasn't an allergic reaction to the shot. A worker was checking in at each car. He stopped at our window: "Are you doing OK?". "Yes". Soon, we were at the front of the line. The worker asked one more time if she was doing well. Then we were off.
All told, the time between leaving and returning home was just over an hour.
A day later, I learned that I would be eligible to receive my first dose beginning on Monday. I set up my account at
patientportalfl.com
. After witnessing my wife's experience, I wanted to get my shot at Vance Vogel, too. But on Friday and through the weekend, there were no available County-site appointments in Hillsborough County.
I had seen a tweet from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor that she had received her first dose late last week at the Tampa Greyhound Track, which is a Federally-Supported site in Hillsborough County. It's a walk-up. No appointments are needed - or available. Mayor Castor indicated in her tweet that the wait-times were short at the Greyhound Track. So after pre-registering through
myvaccine.fl.gov
and periodically checking availability at Vance Vogel, I decided that I would go on Monday to the Greyhound Track. If the line was long and I didn't feel like waiting, I could fall back on one of the other options. I assumed that the County Sites would start opening up appointments after the weekend.
I figured there might be a rush first-thing on Monday morning, so I elected to wait until the afternoon. Sure enough, there was news that the Greyhound Track was seeing more traffic than usual. Maybe a lot of people saw Mayor Castor's tweet!
So I went elsewhere. The
https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/residents/public-safety/covid-19-vaccine
link showed that, in addition to the Greyhound Track location, Hillsborough County also had two mobile Federally-Supported sites that, like the Track location, didn't require an appointment. These mobile sites stay in one location for a few days, then move to a new location. One of them was in between spots on Monday, but the other was still at the Larry Sanders Sports Complex on South 78th Street, which is not too far from my home in Brandon. The hours were from 9 am to 5 pm. (The Track location is open from 7 am to 7 pm).
When I arrived, there were only six or seven cars in front of me. The drivers were getting pre-registered. Within a couple of minutes, an attendant was at my window. She registered me by scanning my driver's license. Unlike Vance Vogel, which had one big tent, Larry Sanders had set up a handful of tent "kiosks", with a healthcare worker positioned at each one. Once I received my sticker and pulled forward, there was no wait. I was instructed to drive to kiosk "3". I received my shot and my COVID Vaccination Record Card. My card lists the schedule date of my second shot, but because I received my first dose at a Federally-Supported Site with no appointments, I didn't get a specific time. The mobile site will be back at Larry Sanders on the date of my second dose. So I could go there. Or, as the worker explained, I had the option of scheduling my second shot elsewhere. She told me that, if I elect to go to another site in three weeks, I simply need to ensure that I get the Pfizer vaccine.
I drove to the waiting area, where an attendant checked on me twice during the next fifteen minutes. Then I was homeward bound. Similar to the week before, the entire experience - including driving time - lasted just over an hour.
I have nothing but high praise for the workers we encountered at both Vance Vogel and Larry Sanders. They displayed efficiency and professionalism. And that also seems to be the case at other locations. One of my neighbors got her first dose at Raymond James Stadium, which is the State-run site in Tampa. According to her, it was similarly well-run.
We've spent much of the past year lauding the health care professionals that have worked so tirelessly on the front lines of the pandemic. They deserve additional praise for their efforts at making the vaccine distribution process at the sites in our area seamless and smooth. Thanks again to all of them.