The rollout of the coronavirus vaccine at Publix locations across the state continued Tuesday with the announcement that Palm Beach County will begin administering the Moderna vaccine this week.
During a news conference in Jupiter, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the county will be the largest to date to begin vaccinating seniors 65 and older at Publix.
DeSantis cited the continuing effort to vaccinate senior citizens across the state, along with the fact 25% of Palm Beach County’s residents are 65 and older, for rolling out the vaccine there.
“When I met with folks in the county,” DeSantis said, “they said that by their calculations, 90% of all seniors in Palm Beach County live within a mile and a half of at least one Publix.”
Before Tuesday’s announcement, the rollout of the vaccine at Publix locations was limited to medium-sized counties.
WHERE TO GET IT: List of Publix pharmacies administering the vaccine
DeSantis said all 67 Publix pharmacies in Palm Beach County, along with seven in Martin County and two in Monroe County, will begin taking appointments on the Publix website starting Wednesday.
Vaccines will begin on Thursday, he said.
DeSantis estimates that 100-125 shots will be available to seniors daily at each location.
DeSantis later announced 32 Publix locations in Lee County, seven in Charlotte and 22 in Brevard would be administering vaccines.
On Jan. 5, 22 Publix stores in Hernando, Citrus and Marion counties were announced as the first Publix stores that would administer the vaccine.
The rollout was expanded last week to include stores across five counties in northwest Florida, along with Collier, Flagler St. Johns and Volusia counties.
There are now 242 Publix stores across 18 counties that are administering the vaccine.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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