Another COVID vaccination site opened in Miami-Dade Tuesday, this one in Homestead
A new COVID vaccination site has opened at Homestead Sports Complex, four miles away from where the FEMA-run site at the Florida City Youth Center finishes its run Wednesday.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s Communications Director Rachel Johnson said the site hopes to vaccinate 250 people per day the first week. After that, Johnson said, it’s a matter of how many vaccine shots the site receives from the state.
Unlike the FEMA site, the city of Homestead and the county are running this site at 1601 SE 28th Ave. in Homestead. So, it’s appointment only, requiring people to register at the county’s vaccination website or call 305-614-2014. When appointments are available, you’ll be contacted.
Who can get vaccinated here?
This vaccination site is accepting appointments for:
▪ People 65 years of age and older (this drops to 60 or older on Monday).
▪ Long-term care facility residents and staff
▪ Health care personnel with direct patient contact
▪ K-12 school employees 50 years of age and older
▪ Sworn law enforcement officers 50 years of age and older
▪ Firefighters 50 years of age and older
▪ People with a Florida Department of Health form filled out by a doctor declaring extreme vulnerability to COVID-19
A criticism leveled at vaccine sites placed near underserved populations says there’s still too much reliance on online activity for more than a surface scrape of those communities. In Homestead, for example, there’s a significant migrant worker population unlikely to hop online and make reservations.
Johnson said the county, in conjunction with the municipalities and community organizations in the area, would work to improve outreach.
“We are also preparing to launch our VACS Now teams to bring information and resources directly to underserved communities including farmworkers,” Johnson said via email, “and are exploring using the VACS NOW teams to direct people to the Homestead site as well as other tactics to best reach the farmworker community, including, for example, mobile units.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 6:46 PM.
