CJ HADDAD Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday that all 32 Publix pharmacy locations throughout Lee County will be administering COVID-19 vaccines beginning Thursday by appointment only.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced all 32 Publix pharmacy locations throughout Lee County will be administering COVID-19 vaccines for those 65 and older and frontline healthcare workers beginning Thursday.

DeSantis made the announcement at a press conference in Cape Coral Tuesday afternoon at the Publix location at Midpoint Center.

Residents can register online for an appointment to receive an immunization beginning Wednesday at 6 a.m. DeSantis said anywhere from 100 to 125 shots would be administered per day at each location.

“Starting Thursday, Publix will be offering shots at all 32 Publix pharmacy locations in Lee County,” DeSantis said. “We’re excited about this. This will be good for South-west Florida. We now have this really in all corners of the state and it’s something that we very well do statewide if we’re able to have enough vaccine on hand.”

DeSantis said the program has been well received by members in the community at other Publix locations in select counties which implemented this partnership recently.

“I talked with seniors – people loved it,” DeSantis said. “We (decided) we needed to bring this to other parts of the state.”

Publix locations in Collier County have already started administering vaccines, and DeSantis announced seven locations in Charlotte County will be following suit.

He said the choice to use Publix locations include their abundance throughout the state and that it may be easier for seniors to navigate their local supermarket rather than one large centralized location that may require a long ride.

With Tuesday’s announcement, this now makes a total of 220 Publix locations in the Sunshine State offering vaccines in 17 counties.

“As we continue moving forward, we’re not going to budge from our focus on ‘seniors first,'” DeSantis said.

On Monday, DeSantis’ office announced that Florida was the first state in the nation to vaccinate more than 500,000 individuals 65 years of age or older, accounting for nearly 60% of total vaccinations in the state. According to Tuesday’s state vaccine report, 615,111 people aged 65 or older had received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine,

“Due to reporting lags, this number serves as an estimate and understates the total of seniors vaccinated,” the release states.

Vaccines administered at Public locations require the initial dose and a booster a few weeks after the first.

To make an appointment online, visit www.publix.com/covidvaccine.

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