Stage Set For Two More South Florida FEMA-Supported Vaccination Sites
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The stage is set for two more FEMA-supported vaccination sites.
Wednesday night, at the Miami Springs Community Center, folding tables are lined up, chairs are socially distanced and barricades are set up like the lines at Disney to keep folks moving.
City Manager William Alonso expects a busy Thursday morning.
"We're getting 500 per day. Sometimes, we'll get more than that. For tomorrow, at least, it's going to be all Pfizer," said he said. "And then each day they'll let us know which vaccines we're getting."
A second FEMA site opens Thursday as well. This one at the Allen Park Community Center on 162 Street in North Miami Beach.
It's possible both places could see a crush of people like at the site at Miami Dade College's North Campus, where there was a lot of confusion.
On Tuesday, word spread that the staff was inoculating anyone who was at least 18 years of age and had a driver's license.
FEMA Master Public Information Officer Mike Jachles thinks he know how that started, saying, "Somebody managed to beat the system and get a vaccine. They're going to tell their friends and their friends are going to tell their friends and the next thing we know, we have a lot of people that don't meet the criteria."
As a result, people lined up dark and early, creating traffic chaos.
Miami-Dade PD posted a tweet hoping to keep long lines and overwhelmed streets from happening. The tweet warned: "There will be no overnight parking/staging and camping on sidewalks won't be permitted."
Apparently it's a thing, as some were at MDC for more than 10 hours.
Adrian Hernandez and his wife were two of them.
"I got here at 8:30 this morning. And it's what? It's 6:30 now? And we were never told anything until we got to the end of the line after 8-hours in the car," said Hernandez.
Hernandez, his wife and a large group of people who didn't meet the states criteria for eligibility loitered around the entrance to the vaccine tents, hoping there would be some leftover vaccine. The wait was to no avail.
It could have been worse. Natalia Goncalves made a heck of a road trip to destination frustration.
"We left Orlando at like 2 a.m. They said everybody can come, and now they change the rules, not everybody can come anymore," she said.
Emergency management made it clear Wednesday: Only those eligible by state orders can get a vaccine – no exceptions.
And that's how Alonso said Miami Springs will run its site, saying, "We've already been told by FEMA and by state officials that they are going to follow the governor's orders."
The new Miami Springs site and the one in North Miami Beach will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Miami Springs site will serve as a vaccine location until March 17.
