Locations being set up around county to assist Hispanic, black communities
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A COVID-19 vaccinations site is currently operating at Kissimmee’s Chambers Park Community Center until April 30. PHOTO COURTESY OF JEREMY LANIER/FACEBOOK
Local and state officials are working to better to serve the minority community with COVID-19 vaccinations by making the locations more convenient and the process easier.
A new vaccination site was recently established at Kissimmee’s Chambers Park Community Center through a partnership between the Osceola County Office of Emergency Management, Florida Department of Health in Osceola County and Florida Department of Emergency Management.
Located at 2380 Smith St. in Kissimmee, the site will be able to administer up to 200 doses a day of no-cost COVID-19 vaccine seven days a week, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. or until all 200 doses have been administered. The site opened for operation on Feb. 25 and will end April 30.
The site was chosen because it’s in an area with a large minority population. The county’s first site was at the Centro Cristiano Dios de Pactos Church, 1130 Simmons Road. Although they vaccinate 900 to 1,000 people a day, not many are minorities, said Jeremy Lanier, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health Osceola.
“What better way to vaccinate that community, you bring the vaccines to them,” Lanier said.
Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be available on location on a firstcome, first served basis, eliminating the need for residents to have access to phone or Internet service for registration. Nobody has to register. Eligible residents can just show up and get vaccinated.
“I think that’s going to be beneficial to individuals in our community who don’t have access to technology,” Lanier said.
Bill Litton, the director of the Osceola County Office of Emergency Management, said the city of Kissimmee stepped up to help.
“We looked at some target areas and Kissimmee offered up that support,” he said. “The unique thing about Chambers, it has the capacity to do 200 doses a day.”
At the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Chambers Park site and five others across the state were established in order to meet the needs of underserved Florida communities. Other counties included were Broward, Duval, Leon and Miami-Dade.
“I’m pleased to announce the opening of six new COVID-19 vaccination sites in underserved areas in Florida,” said DeSantis. “These sites, which will administer 200 shots per day and be open seven days a week, will significantly increase access to the vaccine for seniors in these communities.”
As part of a statewide initiative to increase outreach to minority communities, Osceola County’s opened its first “Spoke Site” last week at the St. Cloud Civic Center. The site provided up to 500 doses a day to area residents.
The county is working with FEMA and the Florida Division of Emergency Management to utilize the Mary Jane Arrington Gym and Aquatic Center as the next “Spoke Site”. This site will be open until March 13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
No appointment is needed, but individuals still need to be in one of the qualified groups. identified by the Governor’s Executive Order, including K-12 school employees, sworn law enforcement and firefighters (50 years and older).
“I’m glad that Osceola was selected to serve as a FEMA Spoke location for two months to help better increase our outreach to minority areas in the county,” said Osceola Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington. “Osceola County has been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic for a year now and we’ve done everything possible for residents and businesses with millions of dollars in assistance awarded. Now, making sure our residents have access to the vaccine is our top priority. I’m confident that better days are ahead for us.”
The Florida Department of Health in Osceola continues to operate the vaccination site at Centro Cristiano Dios De Pactos Church. Appointments are required for these events. Florida residents may preregister for a COVID-19 vaccination by visiting https://myvaccine.fl.gov/
For those with vaccine appointments but without transportation, LYNX has partnered to transport residents to this vaccine site for free.
The Osceola County Office of Emergency Management is coordinating this service. Residents need to call 407-742-0000 between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the week to schedule a ride. Allow a 48-hour notice to schedule a ride
Learn more about vaccinations at www.osceola.org/covid19vaccinations/and testing at www.osceola.org/covid 19testing/.
