A new COVID-19 vaccination site will be opening at Miami-Dade College next month, one of four new federally supported sites that will be operating in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday.
The new site at the college's north campus at 11380 Northwest 27th Avenue is set to open on March 3. Similar sites will be opening in Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville.
"MDC is very proud to be chosen as a committed partner in helping our community and the entire country reach normalcy during this global pandemic," college president Madeline Pumariega said in a statement. "This latest designation speaks to the important role the College plays in this community and the nation and our ability to effectively serve as a community resource during times of crisis – including opening our campuses as food and technology distribution sites over the last 12 months."
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The sites will operate seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with about 2,000 vaccine doses available per day.
Miami-Dade officials including county mayor Daniella Levine-Cava are happy to be getting more doses.
"It's going to be 2,000 doses per day. So this is really a step up," Levine Cava said during a Zoom meeting Friday. "The federal government has come to our aid and is now including Miami Dade County specifically in its expanded vaccination effort, four sites in Florida and one right here in Miami Dade at the North Campus of Miami Dade College which is the site we have been using to dispense our country program there. We have done a great job there and we know it is a really important location."
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County data released to NBC 6 on Friday showed one Miami-Dade zip code, 33167, had about 362 people receiving both vaccine shots, one of the lowest numbers for any zip code in the country.
Each site will also have two smaller mobile satellite sites that will perform 500 vaccinations per day in underserved areas, DeSantis said.
The sites are opening through a partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, the Florida Department of Health, Florida Division of Emergency Management and Florida National Guard.
To preregister with the statewide system, individuals can either call the designated phone number for their county or visit myvaccine.fl.gov.
