County to host walk-up vaccination clinics

Once again, the county is evolving the way it administers the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Beginning at 5 p.m. April 12, the Sarasota County COVID-19 registration system will no longer accept new accounts. 

The county will instead transition to a new phase of administering the vaccine with walk-up appointments. 

Residents who are not registered in the county's current system will be able to receive the next phase of vaccine through a walk-up, no appointment needed clinics. The first set of first-dose walk-up clinics will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 9 and 10 at Sarasota Square Mall. 

If a resident chooses to participate in a walk-up clinic, they will wait in a walk-up line until their turn arrives. Those who have scheduled appointments for the same day will not have to wait in the walk-up line. 

Those who receive their first dose during a walk-up clinic will be provided a second-dose appointment date for another walk-up clinic. They will not receive a second-dose notification and should instead refer to the information packet given at the clinic. 

Current registrants will still be able to view their accounts and the system will continue to schedule appointment notifications through the existing list of registrants. There are more than 251,200 accounts registered in the current system.

To date, the county has administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 197,149 individuals. More than 82% of the county's most vulnerable population and more than 45% of the general population has been vaccinated.