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BY MARIE PULEO | POMPANO BEACH NEWS REPORTER

The City of Pompano Beach has set up a COVID-19 vaccination site in the south parking lot of Pompano Citi Centre, the shopping center located at the southwest corner of North Federal Highway and East Copans Road. However, the site can’t open until more vaccines become available.

“We’ve got a site that is sitting here waiting to put shots in arms, and all we need is the vaccine,” said Pompano Beach Mayor Rex Hardin at Tuesday’s city commission meeting. “That’s our current dilemma, and that’s what we’re really working towards.”

The initial plan was for the vaccination site to start operating on Jan. 25, but that date was postponed by the Department of Health, due to a shortage in vaccines, according to Pompano Beach Emergency Manager Kimberly Spill-Cristiano. A new start date has not yet been provided.

Pompano Beach Fire Chief Chad Brocato noted that Moderna and Pfizer are trying to produce approximately 12 to 18 million vaccine doses every week, and Johnson and Johnson is expected to get its vaccine approved sometime in February or March, which would bring another 100 million doses into the pipeline.

“I think we’ll go from this dry spell to more vaccinations being available for all of us, for the entire city,” said Brocato.

There are 10 stations set up at the Pompano Citi Centre drive-through vaccination site. Since December, City staff has been preparing with training and drills, said Spill-Cristiano. Paramedics have been trained to do inoculations when needed.

“We stand ready to support this effort when the vaccines come our way,” said Spill-Cristiano.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Commission approved an agreement with the Florida Department of Health, Broward County Health Department, to open the public vaccination site, as well as an agreement with Pompano Citi Centre to use the property for the site at no cost.

“We took the initiative, said Hardin. “We wanted to protect our residents and the residents of the surrounding areas.”

Hardin added: “A day’s notice and we could be out there giving shots, and that’s what this is really about. Giving shots, saving lives. It’s ready to go.”

Other Vaccination Sites

Also on Tuesday, a new COVID-19 vaccination site opened at Fort Lauderdale’s Snyder Park replacing the site at Holiday Park, which closed over the weekend. The Snyder Park site, which is larger and has a better traffic flow, is operated by the Florida Department of Health in Broward in partnership with the City of Fort Lauderdale. People who received their first COVID-19 vaccine at Holiday Park will receive their second dose at Snyder Park.

Other COVID-19 vaccination sites provided by the Florida Department of Health in Broward (DOH-Broward) include Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, Vista View Park in Davie, Markham Park in Sunrise, Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, and Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs.

Seniors ages 65 and older and frontline healthcare workers can now call 866-201-6313 to request an appointment at a DOH-Broward vaccination site, instead of using the online sign-up system, which had issues.

Last week, the state surgeon general instated a Florida residency requirement for vaccine recipients, with some accommodation of seasonal residents and individuals providing health care services directly to patients.

Broward Health is operating a vaccination site at Inter Miami CF Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, but appointment requests are currently suspended, due to the high volume of requests received. The Cleveland Clinic and Memorial Healthcare have also temporarily suspended scheduling appointments.

For more Pompano Beach news and things to do in Pompano Beach read Pompano! magazine and search our website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”11102,11104″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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