PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Thursday marks a milestone in Palm Beach County's vaccination efforts. It is the last day first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be offered at the South Florida Fairgrounds, the county's largest mass vaccination site. About 1170 people are scheduled for first doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday.
Last month, leaders announced they planned to close the sites by the end of May.
The Health Care District of Palm Beach County began administering shots at the fairgrounds at the beginning of February, and also opened sites in Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens.
The plan was always for these sites to be a temporary way to get a large amount of people vaccinated until the community vaccine supply increased.
"It's rewarding that we've been able to be such a vital part of getting the delivery out, but we know this isn't the end," said CEO of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County Darcy Davis. "The next step is really just the next phase and that's to get those mobile units and go out into some of those neighborhoods."
Davis says they are transitioning to using the Health Care District's three mobile units to go out into communities and distribute the vaccine.
The mobile units will carry the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines.
"We can go into communities and neighborhoods that do not have a very high vaccination rate," said Davis. "We'd like to get out there and do some education and make the vaccine available. We know we have the capacity to do about 500 a day per mobile unit. So far with a really slow start to the mobile unit, we've only been seeing a little over 100 a day, but we're trying to find that right model, that right community where there's interest."