Can a Miami patient get the COVID vaccine in Broward? Is Florida residency required?
Do you need to be a Florida resident to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida? Can you only get it in the county in which you live? And what about snowbirds? Can those part-time residents from up North get their shots in the Sunshine State?
Florida’s answer is clear: Federal rules bar residency restrictions. That means a Miami-Dade or Keys resident can get the vaccine in Broward County or vice versa. You could also drive up to Orlando, Tampa or Tallahassee to get one. Snowbirds can get it, too. So can foreigners who travel to Miami or another part of Florida.
Securing a vaccine appointment in South Florida isn’t easy. Frustrated seniors have spent hours on busy phone lines and crashed websites. Those who book an appointment sometimes have to wait hours in line to get their injection.
So, many aren’t happy with the “no residency” requirement. One of them is Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
Popular COVID-19 testing site Marlins Park will turn into a vaccination site Wednesday and the Miami mayor wants to make it exclusively for those who live inside city limits. Miami commissioners unanimously instructed the fire department to create a new plan for vaccinating only city residents. Suarez isn’t sure if they can legally restrict the vaccine distribution.
While we wait to see how this residency debate unfolds, here’s a checklist to keep track of who can get the vaccine in Florida and who can’t:
Who can get the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida?
The state is vaccinating healthcare workers, long-term care residents and staff, and seniors 65 and older. Hospitals can also vaccinate people with health conditions that make them at high risk of seriously falling ill with COVID-19.
Do you need to live in Florida to get the COVID-19 vaccine?
No.
If I live in Miami-Dade or Monroe, can I get the COVID vaccine in Broward, Palm Beach or another Florida county?
Yes
I’m a snowbird. Can I get the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida? What if I’m a vaccine tourist?
Yes to snowbirds. Vaccine tourists — foreigners who travel to Miami or another part of Florida to receive the vaccine — can also get the vaccine because there is no residency requirement. And some have.
Miami’s proximity to Latin America, in particular, has made it attractive for foreigners with little confidence in the vaccination efforts of their home countries.
And so the residency debate continues.
Miami Herald staff writers Martin Vassolo, Joey Flechas, Douglas Hanks and Samantha J. Gross contributed to this report.
