There were a number of issues as Jackson Health started rolling out the vaccine to the public. NBC 6’s Carlos Suarez reports
Miami's Jackson Health System is now offering appointments to the public for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Jackson Health's online portal for registration opened Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. with about 2,000 daily appointments available, with priority going to senior citizens.
Shortly before noon Tuesday, a Jackson Health spokesperson confirmed that the first round of appointments had been filled, with more than 80,000 people logging on for the 12,000 appointments.
Another 2,000 appointments were expected to be made available soon, the spokesperson said.
"Jackson launched its online COVID vaccine registration portal this morning for anyone over age 65 and, as expected, the slots filled up quickly in less than two hours. We realize this vaccine is in high demand, and we will continue to open more slots as we receive additional vaccines," Jackson health said in a statement. "As we navigate through this unprecedented, logistically complex vaccine distribution, Jackson's top priority is inoculating as many eligible people in our community as we can."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the portal during a news conference at Jackson Memorial Hospital Monday.
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DeSantis said Jackson will initially have three community vaccination centers. He said the health system has the capacity of doing 10,000 vaccinations per week but the vaccine doses may not be initially available.
"Supply is limited and we ask that you bear with Jackson," DeSantis said.
DeSantis said Jackson Health was also looking into doing vaccinations at testing sites, including the one at Marlins Park.
About 90% of Jackson's physicians have already received the first dose of the vaccine, DeSantis said. Some workers began receiving the second shot on Monday.
