PHOTO PROVIDED BY LEE HEALTH

All 5,800 available appointments for this week at the Florida Department of Health-Lee and Lee County vaccination site were claimed today within minutes of the reservation call line opening.

The call line opened at 9 a.m. as scheduled. The appointments for Thursday and Friday were filled when that happened. People can stop calling the reservation line now, officials said.

Tidal Basin representatives say people who called were either scheduled for appointments while on the line, or prompted to leave their contact information to receive a call back. Once all slots were filled, some callers received a message that appointments were no longer available. Some callers received a busy signal.

The vendor, Tidal Basin, continues to add operators to handle the volume of incoming calls.

The State of Florida continues to work with the vendor to develop an online registration system. More information about that system will be announced when it is released by the state.

The vendor has a Help Line that is available at 888-499-0851 for questions about the registration process. The Help Line is not able to schedule appointments.

The number of doses available for next week is not yet known and appointments for first doses for the week of Jan. 25 are not being made at this time.

For those who secured appointments for Thursday and Friday, operations at the site will continue as in past weeks. At this time, Lee County has not received any information from the Governor’s Office related to proof-of-residency requirements.

About the vaccination site:

As with the past two weeks, the vaccinations are available for people age 65 and older and frontline healthcare workers at the site east of Interstate 75 off Daniels Parkway. It’s the site of the old airport terminal parking lot. Message boards are in place to direct traffic.

When those registered arrive on site, officials will request ID showing proof of age before allowing them to queue up. (At this time, Lee County has not received any information from the Governor’s Office related to potential proof-of-residency requirements.) People are asked to arrive no more than 45 minutes before their assigned vaccination time. Even though this is an appointment system, processing times may vary. Be prepared for some wait time.

Those with reservations can expedite the process by arriving prepared: visit www.leegov.com/vaccine to read the Moderna vaccination information and to print and complete the consent form.

Social distancing and masks are encouraged; take into account weather conditions. Portable toilets, handwashing stations, drinking water and some chairs will be available. For safety and security, county government and Lee County Sheriff’s Office staff is on site.

The following will not be permitted: Recreational Vehicles, campers or trailers. Only service animals will be permitted in the vaccination area. This is not a drive-thru site. The site is ADA compliant.

Further assistance:

The state vendor also now has a Help Line available at 888-499-0851. The Help Line is not able to schedule appointments; however, agents can answer questions about the reservation system and other general vaccination questions.

The United Way 2-1-1 hotline remains available for general questions about the vaccination rollout. The hotline is not able to help make reservations or handle pre-registration. Residents are asked to refrain from calling United Way with specific questions for the reservation vendor.

Complete information can be found at www.leegov.com/vaccine. People can visit Lee County Government Facebook and other social media channels (www.leegov.com/socialmedia) or monitor Florida DOH’s Twitter @flhealthlee.

Source: Lee County