COVID-19 Vaccine: St. Johns leads the state in senior vaccinations

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Johns County leads the state on senior vaccinations. As of Thursday, St. Johns County is closing in on vaccinating 80% of its senior population.

Hunter Conrad, the county administrator, said the county has vaccinated about 44,000 people of the 55,000 population that is 65 and up. He said the secret behind their success is planning.

St. Johns County Fire & Rescue and Emergency Management began planning for the site in August of 2020.”It’s run very much like a military operation and so it’s done very quick, efficiently, and very safe,” Conrad said.

Even as the state battled problems of vaccine supply and demand, the Solomon Calhoun Center continued to grow. Conrad said they were able to use the site’s efficiency as leverage to get more doses from the state.

“We worked each week to become more efficient to be able to get shots in arms as quickly and safely as possible. As we continue to do that, we request from the state ‘hey we can do more’.”

Now St. Johns is even telling other counties to send their residents to St. Johns for vaccinations. The county is looking to possibly open up another site in a northern part of the county.

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