Manatee County receives 5,100 vaccine doses for seniors

Another 5,100 seniors will receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Manatee County on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Tom Bennett Park in East County.

Manatee County 311 callers will begin scheduling appointments with seniors who are registered in the county's Vaccination Standby Pool on Monday, according to a county press release. Manatee County operators will be calling randomly selected seniors from the phone number 742-4300 to book appointments.

If a selected recipient misses the first call, the county will call once more at a later time. If the county calls twice with no response, that would-be recipient's name will be placed back in the standby pool. The county asked that people don't call 311 to ask if they've been selected.

The release also said Manatee County has not opted into Florida's new statewide registration system. Therefore, signing up for Florida's My Vaccine registration system will not result in receiving a vaccine in Manatee County.

Approximately 32,842 Manatee County residents have received a vaccination as of Feb. 7.