Pop-up vaccine site coming to Longboat

The Florida Department of Health is planning to hold a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine site next month in Longboat Key.

The tentative date for the event is May 11 at the Paradise Center facility at 546 Bay Isles Road.

“We also discussed interest in setting up a pop-up clinic on the island to assist with both workers and residents who have not been able to access the vaccine,” Town Manager Tom Harmer wrote in an email to commissioners. “They were working to finalize the site earlier but delayed the plan after the [Johnson & Johnson] vaccine distribution was paused.”

The Florida Department of Health is partnering with Tidwell Hospice for the pop-up event. They are still working out the logistics.

Harmer said Tidewell would offer the Moderna vaccine at the May 11 event. It means another date is in the works to administer second shots.

“There’s some work going on behind the scenes with Tidewell and the Paradise Center to reach out to different organizations, employers, etc. on the island to get a sense of how many individuals may be interested or need to get the vaccine, so they can help the Health Department put together an anticipated number because that will then determine how many doses to make available,” Harmer said.

Chuck Henry, a health officer with the Florida Department of Health’s Sarasota County office, provided the town data on Monday that shows 6,963 people on the island have been vaccinated with 5,541 people who have completed the series and 1,449 others with their first dose only.

Longboat Key has a full-time population of about 7,000 people.

“A lot of people have been vaccinated,” Harmer said. “I do think there’s still a value and a benefit. How many people will take advantage of it? I don't know. I hope as many as possible.”

While the pop-up site will not be Longboat Key’s first vaccination location, Harmer said he wishes it could have happened sooner.

“We’ve obviously been asking for clinics and vaccines on the island from the very beginning,” Harmer said. “I know that did not happen, and our residents have really been proactive and have found ways to be vaccinated, and fortunately had the ability to go to other sites and other counties to get vaccinated.”

However, Harmer said had the town opened a pop-up clinic earlier than April 12, it would have been subject to pre-registration with Sarasota County before it started allowing for walk-up clinics. It means people from outside Sarasota County would have been able to sign up for the pop-up site.

“It’s going to be targeted mostly to the residents and anyone who is actually out here because the vaccine is more broadly available and it’s closer to people’s home and work now than it was in the beginning,” Harmer said. 

Henry told Harmer the town of Longboat Key has the highest percentage of people vaccinated compared to the municipalities throughout the Sarasota area.

“Tidewell will be reaching out to you and others to try to determine the number of those who desire vaccines,” Henry wrote in an email to Harmer. “It continues to be important to me that these vaccine events be open to anyone who finds it convenient to get vaccinated at this location, so I appreciate their plans to reach out to employers and include employees wherever possible.”

In February, the Publix located at 525 Bay Isles Parkway began administering COVID-19 vaccines to people who use the chain’s online registration system.

The Health Department in Sarasota continues to offer vaccines on a walk-up basis at its Sarasota Square Mall location. Henry said the Health Department is also supporting pop-up locations in an effort to vaccinate as many as possible.