Baptist Health is scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments. Can you still get one?
On Friday, Baptist Health began offering COVID-19 vaccine appointments to seniors 65 and older and to those who have certain health conditions that make them at risk of falling seriously ill with the disease.
If you don’t have an appointment yet, your shot to get one is on hold.
All of the appointments available — 13,000 of them — were filled within two hours of the website going live shortly before 9 a.m. Friday, according to the hospital. More slots are expected to be added in the future at Baptisthealth.net/vaccine.
Baptist was scheduling appointments for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and like with other places that scheduled appointments, “overwhelming demand” caused some users to experience technical difficulties.
Baptist Health of South Florida has COVID-19 vaccines: What to know
The vaccines are free (taxpayers paid the bill) and will be given by appointment at specific locations across South Florida. Vaccinations will begin Monday.
Pfizer’s vaccine requires two shots, three weeks apart, and can be given to people 16 and older. Moderna’s vaccine requires two shots, one month apart, and can be given to people 18 and older. Neither vaccine will give you COVID-19.
Unlike other vaccination sites, Baptist was also offering vaccines to people with certain health conditions, including cancer, chronic kidney disease and heart conditions that make them at high risk of falling seriously ill with COVID-19, according to the hospital’s website.
The hospital also advises the Pfizer vaccine be administered at least 14 days after any other vaccine, including the flu vaccine.
Florida does not have a statewide residency requirement to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This means if you live in Broward, you can get the vaccine in Miami-Dade or vice versa.
Baptist and other South Florida locations give seniors COVID-19 vaccines
Baptist joins other hospitals — including Jackson Health System and Mount Sinai Medical Center — that are offering vaccines in Miami-Dade.
Mount Sinai in Miami Beach is booking appointments for people 75 and older, and will eventually lower it the age to 65. Call 305-674-2312 to schedule an appointment, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday through Sunday.
Jackson Health has launched an online portal for people 65 and older to schedule vaccine appointments. All of its appointment slots are currently full, but the hospital plans to add more in the future. To check for available appointments, visit https://jhsmiami.org/comvac/.
In Miami Gardens, Hard Rock Stadium on Friday began providing vaccinations to seniors and front-line healthcare workers. It is the first state-run testing site in Miami-Dade to offer vaccines. Appointments first opened up at 8 a.m. Friday by calling 888-499-0840. For those who use a TTY, call 888-256-8918. Available slots quickly filled up.
Those wishing to be notified when appointments will be open should call the center’s number above and prepare to give their name, mother’s maiden name, birthday, phone number and email.
There also is a list of other places in South Florida offering COVID-19 vaccines to seniors.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 8:07 PM.
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