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Next Week's St. Johns Vaccine Appointments Already Full; Publix Appointments Start Friday

LYNNE SLADKY / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Resident Harry Warren receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, at John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Nearly 2,000 St. Johns County COVID-19 vaccine appointments were claimed Thursday morning within an hour.The County Health Department opened its hotline and web registration at 9 a.m. By 10:15 a.m., all spots for next week were reserved.

At the same time, Publix stores in St. Johns County will begin taking coronavirus vaccine appointments through the Publix website Friday. Those slots will start on Saturday.

1/22/20 Story Update:All Available Florida Publix Vaccine Appointments Have Been Claimed

St. Johns County Publix stores are the only ones in Northeast Florida currently participating in a pilot vaccine program with the state.

Any Florida resident 65 or older is eligible to attempt to reserve a slot there, along with health care workers and the residents and staff of long-term care facilities.

Contact Jessica Palombo, jpalombo@wjct.org or on Twitter at @JessicaPubRadio.

Jessica Palombo supervises local news gathering and production, podcasts and web editorial content for WJCT News, ADAPT and Jacksonville Today. She is an award-winning writer and journalist with bylines including NPR, Experience Magazine, and The Gainesville Sun. She has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University and is an alumna of the University of Florida. A nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville, she considers herself lucky to be raising her own children in her hometown. Follow Jessica Palombo on Twitter: @JaxJessicaP