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County to close vaccine appointments, site

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Health.

MANATEE COUNTY – If you’ve been waiting to get a COVID-19 vaccine at the county-run Tom Bennett Park vaccination site, your chances to get that first shot are about to be limited.

In an April 7 press release, county officials announced that with vaccine doses becoming available through local pharmacies and doctors’ offices, they’re closing the standby waiting pool for vaccine appointments. The final patients still in the waiting pool who respond to the automated phone call, text and email sent on behalf of Manatee County will be scheduled for first vaccine appointments April 13-15 at Tom Bennett Park.

Registration for the standby waiting pool will be closed at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 12.

If you miss your opportunity to get an appointment for your first vaccination through Manatee County, officials will be hosting a first-come-first-served vaccination clinic from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, April 21. Anyone receiving a first vaccine dose during the April 21 event will receive their second dose on May 19.

For anyone who’s already had their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine through Manatee County, the second dose vaccination site at the Manatee County Public Safety Center will remain open through the end of the day April 30. After that, the remaining second doses will be administered at Tom Bennett Park.

For more information on receiving a second vaccine dose through Manatee County, or to download a consent form, visit the second dose site online.

To receive a second dose at one of the Manatee County sites, patients must show their card showing the first dose of the vaccine, valid photo identification and a completed copy of the vaccine consent form available to download online.

For more information on receiving a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine through Manatee County, visit the COVID-19 vaccine website or call 311.

All Florida residents aged 18 and older are eligible to receive a vaccine through Manatee County.

County officials will continue to monitor the demand for first dose administration at the Tom Bennett Park site through the end of the month to determine if that site needs to remain open for COVID-19 vaccination first doses.

COVID-19 vaccines are available for ages 16 and older, with parent or guardian permission for those under 18, through area CVS, Publix, Walgreens, Walmart and Winn-Dixie locations.

For a vaccine appointment at CVS, visit the pharmacy online.

Appointments at area Publix locations open at 7 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. Appointments booked on Wednesdays are for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Appointments booked on Mondays and Fridays are for the Moderna vaccine. For more information, visit them online.

For appointments through Walgreens locations, visit the pharmacy’s website.

To book an appointment at a local Walmart pharmacy, visit their COVID-19 vaccine webpage.

Appointments at Winn-Dixie locations can be booked online.

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Manatee County offers vaccine registration to those 18 or older

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Health.

MANATEE COUNTY – Florida residents 18 or older can now register for the COVID-19 vaccine pool in anticipation of the state lowering the age requirement for the vaccine.

Full-time and part-time residents who can prove residency and are 18 or older can register through the county’s online portal or by calling 311 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

While the county is not yet assigning appointments for vaccines to anyone under age 50, county officials are encouraging all adults to register to begin receiving appointments as soon as Gov. Ron DeSantis lowers the age requirement for all adults to receive a vaccine.

DeSantis lowered the age to receive a vaccine to 50 on March 22, with a plan to open vaccine distribution to all adult Floridians by May 1.

With the number of Florida residents who have received a COVID-19 vaccine going up and the number of people waiting in the county’s vaccine standby pool going down, Public Safety Director Jacob Saur said he feels COVID-19 vaccine doses can be quickly administered to those registered with the county.

Saur said everyone in the Manatee County standby pool age 65 and older has been contacted at least once to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. As a result, Saur said county staff began contacting those 50 and older in the standby pool on March 19 for appointments for the 16,400 first dose vaccines being received by the county for distribution the week of March 22.

For more information, visit the county’s vaccine page online.

More people eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Health.

MANATEE COUNTY – More people are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Manatee County at more distribution sites, but there are also more requirements, depending on your situation.

County officials have opened registration through the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County for people age 16 and older with underlying medical conditions to receive the vaccine. To be eligible, vaccine recipients must first have a physician fill out a determination of extreme vulnerability form with the Department of Health’s logo on it. The form can be downloaded online. To learn what medical conditions qualify, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention online.More people are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

To make an appointment at the health department, call 941-242-6646. Vaccine appointments are being made from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Department of Health at 410 Sixth Ave. E., Bradenton. When arriving for an appointment, recipients need a signed copy of the determination of extreme vulnerability form, if applicable, documentation showing proof of Florida residency and a completed vaccination consent form, which can be found online. Second vaccine appointments will be scheduled when the first vaccine is given.

Thanks to a new executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis, seniors age 60 and older are now eligible to receive a vaccination through state, county and private pharmacy distribution sites.

To sign up for a vaccine through Manatee County at the Tom Bennett Park or Public Safety Center sites, visit the county’s vaccine website. Though anyone 60 and older can register with the county, county officials stated in a March 12 press release that the county will continue prioritizing vaccine distribution to those age 65 and older. Once the demand for vaccines lessens with that age group, they’ll move on to registrants age 60 and older.

Anyone age 60 or older with underlying medical conditions and a signed form from their doctor, sworn law enforcement officers age 50 and older, frontline healthcare workers, K-12 and preschool teachers and firefighters age 50 and older can also sign up for a vaccine from private pharmacies including Publix locations, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Winn-Dixie.

Publix is opening registration for vaccine doses at 7 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays online. With two types of vaccines available, anyone signing up for an appointment on Monday or Friday will receive a Moderna two-dose vaccine. People who sign up on Wednesday will receive the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.

CVS locations in Bradenton and Holmes Beach, as well as other nearby areas, are offering vaccinations. To view availability and book an appointment, visit the pharmacy online.

Walgreens is offering Pfizer and Moderna vaccines at select locations. To book an appointment, visit the pharmacy website.

Select Walmart pharmacy locations also are offering vaccine appointments to eligible individuals. Visit Walmart’s website to see availability and book an appointment.

Vaccine appointments are available through Winn-Dixie at all Bradenton locations and in Palmetto. To book an appointment with Winn-Dixie, visit the grocer’s vaccine website.

While Publix has certain times when appointments become available, all other pharmacy locations release available appointment times as more vaccines become available to them.

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Here’s where to get vaccines in Manatee County

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – After weeks of waiting, seniors and others qualified to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are finally about to see some relief as more shots make their way to the county.

The county-run vaccination site at Tom Bennett Park, 280 Kay Road, Bradenton, has 5,100 first doses for seniors this week, according to Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur. With 4,500 more doses arriving at a state-run vaccination site coming online today at the county’s Public Safety Center at 2101 47th Terrace E., Bradenton, a total of 9,600 first-dose vaccine appointments for seniors are scheduled.

With both vaccination sites running, Saur says he hopes to reduce the county’s vaccine standby pool from 90,000 to near zero by the end of March.

At the state-run site, Saur said the plan is to give 1,000 first doses per day, five days a week for four weeks followed by four weeks of second doses.

All the appointments at the county- and state-run sites are filled at random from those registered in the county’s standby waiting pool. Recipients can expect to receive a text from 88911 or a call from 941-742-4300 to confirm their appointment. Recipients who do not confirm their appointment within two hours will be put back in the waiting pool.

Thanks to changes in the qualifications to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in the state of Florida, more people are now eligible to receive shots. Florida residents 65 and older continue to be qualified to receive the shot and are joined by residents and staff at long-term care facilities, frontline healthcare workers who have direct patient contact, law enforcement officers and firefighters age 50 and older, daycare workers, and pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers. Teachers age 50 and older can get their COVID-19 vaccinations through the state-run site while teachers younger than 50 can get them from retail pharmacy locations.

Anyone with an underlying condition that makes them susceptible to the novel coronavirus also is eligible to receive the vaccine from retail pharmacy locations with a letter of authorization from their doctor on this form.

Currently, only seniors 65 and older, first responders and healthcare workers are eligible to receive the vaccine at the Manatee County site. To register for those standby waiting pools, call 311 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or register online.

Everyone else who is deemed eligible by the state to receive the first dose of the vaccine can register online for appointments at local CVS, Publix, Walgreens, Walmart and Winn-Dixie locations.

To register online for an appointment at an area CVS location, visit the company’s COVID-19 information webpage.

Publix locations are releasing appointment times to the public online every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7 a.m. To register for one of these appointments, visit the company online.

For appointments at Walgreens locations, visit their COVID-19 page.

Appointments at Walmart are available here.

Appointments at local Winn-Dixie locations can be scheduled online here.

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More vaccine options come to Manatee County

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Health, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – More COVID-19 vaccines are coming for Manatee County seniors age 65 and older along with more options for getting the vaccinations.

Manatee County 311 operators began making appointments today for 5,100 first vaccinations to be given to eligible recipients at Tom Bennett Park, 400 Cypress Creek Blvd. in Bradenton. Those appointments were scheduled Feb. 18 and 19. People who received their first dose of the vaccine on Jan. 21-22 are scheduled to receive their second vaccine dose on Feb. 15-16.

Anyone receiving a first or second vaccination from Manatee County is required to present a completed copy of the COVID-19 vaccination consent form, which can be found online, and a Florida state-issued photo identification card or another approved form of identification to prove Florida residency.

Manatee County representatives are administering the vaccine to area seniors and eligible frontline healthcare workers through the county’s vaccine standby pool lottery system. For more information, or to register, visit the county’s vaccine website. Signups through the Florida state system are not being used to book appointments in Manatee County.

In addition to the vaccines coming into the county-run distribution site, seniors now have the option of receiving their vaccine doses through 17 Manatee County Publix stores or one area Winn-Dixie location. During a Feb. 9 county commission meeting, Director of Public Safety Jacob Saur said that 364 vaccine doses are expected to be sent to each of the 18 store pharmacies every week for the foreseeable future. The doses sent to the store pharmacies are in addition to the ones sent to the county to be dispersed at the Bennett Park location.

As of today, 28,601 people had been vaccinated at Bennett Park and the Manatee County Public Safety Center. An additional 1,700 vaccination are planned for Feb. 12. There were 156,254 seniors remaining in the county’s standby vaccination pool as of today.

To sign up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at an area Publix location, visit the Publix vaccine website. Vaccine appointments will be available beginning Feb. 15 and are only available to book online. Appointments cannot be booked in person at a Publix pharmacy location or over the phone.

COVID-19 vaccination appointments are now available for booking at one Manatee County Winn-Dixie location, 5802 14th St. W. in Bradenton. To book those appointments, visit the Winn-Dixie vaccine website.

For information on receiving the vaccine in Manatee County, including required documentation, visit the county’s vaccine information website.

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COVID Ribbon Memorial to honor those lost

COVID Ribbon Memorial to honor those lost

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Anna Maria Island, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – Anna Maria resident, photographer and artist Cathy Tobias and others are creating a public art installation that memorializes Floridians who lost their lives to COVID-19.

Those lives are being honored by the creation of a public art installation known as the COVID Ribbon Memorial of Florida. The installation consists of a string of brightly colored plastic ribbons that’s more than two and a half football fields long, with each ribbon representing a life lost.

As of Monday, Feb. 8, 27,696 Florida residents had died in association with COVID-19, according to the Florida Department of Health.

At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16, the COVID Ribbon Memorial of Florida will be displayed on the public beach near the Sandbar restaurant in Anna Maria at 100 Spring Ave. Those who attend will be asked to gather on the beach and help hold up the string of ribbons as they’re stretched out along the beach. Attendees are invited to bring permanent markers and use them to write on the ribbons the names of loved ones lost.

The Feb. 16 event is open to the entire community and residents and visitors alike are invited to participate. The event will be conducted according to COVID-19 guidelines that include proper social distancing and mandatory masks or face-coverings.

An artist’s perspective

When interviewed last week, Tobias explained how the COVID Ribbon Memorial of Florida came to be.

“It started in mid-November. I just wanted a way to wrap my head around and memorialize and emphasize the number of people that died,” she said.

COVID Ribbon Memorial to honor those lost
Cathy Tobias created the COVID Ribbon Memorial of Florida to help her and others grasp the number of lives lost during the pandemic. – Cathy Tobias | Submitted

Tobias originally contemplated an art project that represented the lives of all American lives lost to COVID-19, but she realized a project of that magnitude might be too ambitious and too costly.

“So, I started with Florida,” Tobias said, noting there were about 16,000 COVID-19 deaths in the state at the time.

“Is it even possible?  Do people care? Are people going to be moved by this and find it to be something meaningful to them? Is this something we can use to heal together as a community and individually?” Tobias said, of the questions she asked herself when contemplating the project.

“I kept thinking about it and I came up with this idea for these plastic ribbons. I started tying them and got my sister Judy (Tobias) to work on it too. We got through quite a few of them and I recruited some friends that are also working on it,” Tobias said.

COVID Ribbon Memorial to honor those lost
Seasonal Anna Maria resident Nancy Abramson helped string the memorial ribbons. – Cathy Tobias | Submitted

Tobias and her sister each started with 1,200 feet of twine. As they’re completed, the sections are tied together to form the single and still-growing string of ribbons currently displayed in the front yard of Tobias’ Anna Maria home.

“It’s been quite impactful. As I tie them, I think about these being people who lost their lives and just how many there are. I couldn’t wrap my head around the number of people dead. It’s hard to grasp. It’s a huge number and it’s something we haven’t experienced in our lifetime. I didn’t want them to go by unrecognized,” Tobias said.

“I wanted to create something we could physically touch and see and get the enormity of the loss. Thankfully, it’s a low percentage of the people who had COVID, but it’s still a lot of lives. I don’t want it to be political or anything like that. I want this to help the community heal together,” Tobias said.

“Maybe part of it is that I worked in healthcare and I’ve worked around people who have died. And maybe it’s because I had a loved one, a very young child, die many years ago. I know what it’s like to lose a family member and a loved one.

“In Florida, we’re now up to more than 27,000 people who’ve died, and there’s a much greater number of lives who’ve been impacted by losing family members, friends, and spouses. These are human lives. It’s not just a number on TV,” Tobias said.

Regarding the Feb. 16 event, Tobias said, “This is its first public engagement. I envision the ribbons stretched out on the beach so we can also see how long it is and what it looks like. We’ll take some time to remember the people who lost their lives, and their families too. And people can write the name and date of someone they know who lost their life. We want to include that, so the installation is interactive. I really want this to be a positive event where we can experience healing. It’s been a tough year,” Tobias said.

“We’re hoping this art installation will travel the state so others can interact with it and remember and honor the lives lost,” she added.

More information is available at the COVID Ribbon Memorial Facebook page and Tobias’ photography can be viewed on her website.

COVID-19 impact on 2020 visitation slight

Written by Cindy Lane on . Posted in Business, Featured, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – COVID-19 had little impact on tourism to the Island, where one of its three cities enjoyed an increase in visitors, according to tourist tax collections records.

The coronavirus was present on the Island for 10 of the 12 months of 2020, from March through December, according to the Florida Department of Health. Despite national health officials warning against leisure travel, AMI’s 2020 tourist tax receipts totaled $7,268,971, only $14,236 less than 2019’s receipts of $7,283,207, or a drop of less than 1%.

Two of the Island’s three cities saw a similarly small decrease in tourist tax collections, while visitation to one city increased, according to the Manatee County Tax Collector’s office, which collects the county’s 5% tourist tax from owners of accommodations who rent them for six months or less, mostly to tourists.

Holmes Beach collections reflect a $268,432 increase from 2019 to 2020, from $3,730,350 to $3,998,782, a 7% increase.

Decreases in the other two cities were slight, with Anna Maria collections decreasing from $2,331,786 in 2019 to $2,261,156 in 2020, a 3% drop, and Bradenton Beach collections decreasing from $1,221,071 in 2019 to $1,009,033 in 2020, a 2% drop.

COVID-19 impact on 2020 visitation slight
The Bradenton Area tourism guide advertises “Real. Authentic. Florida.”

“I am not surprised,” said Manatee County Commissioner and former Tourist Development Council Chair Carol Whitmore, a resident of Holmes Beach.

“During the lockdown, it appeared many decided to stay on the Island due to the thoughts of a decreased risk of contamination with open beaches, etc. My family quarantined and stayed in a rental for a month on the Island. They stayed in the rental, ate at home or delivery to stay safe. I have been surprised where the islands have not been slow where the rest of the county has been impacted by COVID. Also, with most of the Island still pushing very strong for mask wearing, it makes many feel and stay safe when visiting.”

“The lower-than-expected drop in tax collections is a testament to the importance of having a strong brand in the marketplace, which the Bradenton Area has worked to maintain for years,” said Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione, the county’s chief marketing official.

“When your brand is strong, it will continue to resonate during times of adversity. In addition, the Bradenton Area – and Anna Maria Island specifically – benefited tremendously from having attributes that make it a safer choice for travel than many of its coastal competitors, including less density, varied accommodations and a wide variety of outdoor offerings,” he said.

Anna Maria Island

2020 tourist tax collections 

 

City                          Change from 2019

 

Anna Maria              down 3%

 

Bradenton Beach    down 2%

 

Holmes Beach        up 7%

 

 

Anna Maria Island

(total)                      down 1%

 

Source: Manatee County Tax Collector

“The destination is also fortunate to partner with Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, which expertly navigated the challenges presented this past year, continuing to secure new routes and carriers that drive first-time visitation,” Falcione said. “I would be remiss if I didn’t also attribute the minimal decrease to the efforts of our short-term rental managers who continue to excel at marketing their product and focusing on visitor health and safety.”

While the tourist tax reflects visitors who rented accommodations, not accounting for visitors who stayed with local family or friends, it is routinely used by tourism officials as a reliable indicator of the health of the local tourism economy.

Tampa-based Research Data Services, the county’s tourism consultant, has long cited the statistics as a marker of economic change, extrapolating that as the tourist accommodations market goes, so go other segments of the local economy, including restaurants and retail stores, as they depend largely on visitors staying at local accommodations.

Castles in the Sand

Boomers rule – again

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

Babies born after World War II between 1946 and 1964 are generally considered Baby Boomers. Since their numbers were so enormous, they had an effect on the prices of everything from baby furniture to education, with the biggest impact being on the housing market.

The Baby Boom generation is 71.6 million strong and has been getting blamed for practically every financial issue in the country. Well, maybe “blamed” is a little too harsh; how about boomers have influenced much of the country’s finances since they were born beginning in 1946. Now, as boomers are getting ready to retire and downsize their homes, comes along a world-wide pandemic, freezing them in place.

The country’s home sales have surged in 2020 to the highest level in 14 years. As we now know, the pandemic has created the desire for families to move to the suburbs and into larger homes. Historically low interest rates, slightly below 3% for a fixed-rate conventional mortgage, have only made this yearning even more attractive.

There’s just one problem – the available number of homes to purchase is also historically low, down about 22% at the end of November according to the National Association of Realtors, and the poor Baby Boomers are getting blamed again. The length of time homeowners stay in their homes has been rising for several years. According to real estate brokerage Redfin Corp., the typical homeowner in 2020 had remained in their home for 13 years. This is up slightly from 12.8 years in 2019 but well ahead of 2010’s 8.7 years.

As the Baby Boomer population ages, they are in better health, more active and retire later, allowing them to remain in their homes longer. This existing trend combined with the pandemic has exacerbated the already low number of homes on the market. When COVID-19 started, this generation calculated there was no point in retiring since there wasn’t much else to do with their free time. Likewise, there didn’t seem to be any urgency to sell a large home and downsize since their retirement plans might have changed along with everything else in their lives.

In addition, there was a lingering fear of having strangers entering their homes during the pandemic, further delaying their decision to move. As the virus grew and more buyers were looking for houses, the market became more and more competitive, adding to the Baby Boomer anxiety about selling and finding another property to buy.

Many Baby Boomers crunched the numbers and just decided it was more appealing to refinance at the extremely low rates and stay in their homes rather than face a real estate market that was experiencing some serious challenges. Naturally, this decision by the boomer bubble only made the shortage of available properties worse, with sale prices moving up as inventory moved down, and, in my opinion, this won’t end soon.

Baby Boomers who have made the decision to stay in their homes and have refinanced to do so will not have the motivation to sell anytime soon. Even if they decide to retire, so many of their retirement plans – especially travel – are likely on hold for a couple of more years while the world digs out of the fallout from the pandemic.

So, you can blame the Baby Boomers all you like, but the reality is a bad convergence of world events is having the largest effect on the real estate market. Hang in there; we’re almost on the downside. Stay safe.

County skips using state vaccine signup system

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Health.

MANATEE COUNTY – Good news has emerged for some Floridians with the launch of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine signup website. However, it doesn’t change things for anyone wishing to receive their vaccine doses in Manatee County.

The new Florida state website for vaccine pre-registration invites any resident of the state who is age 65 or older, a resident of a long-term care facility, especially vulnerable to COVID-19 or a healthcare professional with direct patient contact, to register their information on the site. Once registered and when vaccines are available, they’re distributed from the federal government to states and then to different counties, where they’re administered. And while some Florida county governments have chosen to participate in the state registration system, Manatee County currently isn’t among them.

To receive a vaccination in Manatee County, qualified individuals are still required to register through either the senior or healthcare worker/first responder county organized standby pool. The standby pools can be found online or by calling 311 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Information on receiving the vaccine in Manatee County can be found online.

Though Manatee County residents can register through the state system to receive a vaccine in another county, registering in the state system will not give access to a vaccine appointment in Manatee County at this time. Wherever you receive your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is also where you will have to receive the second dose, as vaccine records do not transfer between counties or agencies.

In Manatee County, vaccine recipients are selected at random each week from those registered in the vaccine standby pool. Operators then call those selected to set up an appointment. If someone is selected and not available to answer the phone when 311 operators call, they’ll try one more time before putting the name back in the standby pool and selecting another. Anyone who is unable to book an appointment when called does not need to register a second time in the standby pool as duplicate registrations will be deleted. Couples are allowed to register together and be vaccinated at the same time as long as both people are eligible to receive the vaccine.

There are still more than 100,000 people registered in the county’s standby vaccine pool.

Manatee County officials announced that 5,100 first vaccine appointments were being made available Feb. 2-5 at Bennett Park, 400 Cypress Creek Blvd. in Bradenton, with 1,700 people being vaccinated each day. Recipients of those vaccines were to be notified Feb. 1 by 311 operators.

During a Jan. 26 commission meeting, Manatee County commissioners voted to send a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office asking to be able to open up the vaccine standby pool to those people under age 65 who have a medical condition which makes them more at risk if they contracted the novel coronavirus. After some discussion, commissioners decided to not try to determine which conditions would make someone eligible to receive the vaccination, leaving it to the governor’s office to determine.

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Manatee County launches new vaccine sign-up website

Manatee County launches new vaccine sign-up website

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Featured.

MANATEE COUNTY – Everyone over age 65 in Manatee County now has a new way to sign up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine with the launch of the county’s new lottery-style system.

The new system was announced during an emergency county commission meeting and was launched on Jan. 7. Rather than seniors scrambling to receive an appointment on a first-come, first-served basis as vaccine doses become available, now they enter their names into a standby pool where recipients are randomly chosen for an appointment as more doses are received by the county.

To get in line to receive a vaccine appointment, seniors can sign up one of two ways – by visiting the county’s website at any time or by calling 311 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To register, seniors must provide their name, contact information, zip code and birth month and year to verify their age. There are no residency requirements to receive a vaccine in Manatee County, however the two vaccines currently being administered, those made by Moderna and Pfizer, require two separate vaccinations administered a few weeks apart. The Moderna vaccine requires 28 days between doses while the Pfizer vaccine requires 21 days between doses. Anyone receiving the first vaccine in Manatee County must also receive the second one in the county.

Manatee County Public Safety Director Jake Saur said that the first evening the new vaccine standby pool sign up was available to the public, over 18,000 people entered their names in the pool with more than 30,000 signed up by the end of the next day.

During a Jan. 6 meeting with Manatee County commissioners, Saur said that the previous method of scheduling vaccines, using a first-come, first-served signup process through Eventbrite, was causing frustration for people trying to sign up for appointments and crashing both the Eventbrite and Manatee County websites due to increased traffic. By instituting the standby pool, he said that it will take the pressure off to sign up. Because recipients are chosen at random, there’s no need to rush to try to be first in line. As vaccines become available, 311 operators call those seniors randomly selected to schedule an appointment. Seniors should look for a call from 941-742-4300. If the person can’t make their appointment or doesn’t answer their phone, their name goes back into the selection pool and operators move on to the next person, so if you’ve signed up for a vaccine appointment, it’s important to remember to answer your phone.

To receive a vaccine, patients will have to provide a form of photo identification at the vaccination distribution site to prove their age. They also must provide their vaccination confirmation number, which will be given by 311 operators when making an appointment, and a copy of their completed vaccine consent form which can be downloaded here. If you don’t have access to a printer, a copy of the form will be provided to you at the vaccination site for completion before a vaccine can be administered.

Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the county vaccination site at Bennett Park, 280 Kay Road in Bradenton, for a press conference on Jan. 7 to praise the efforts being made by Manatee County leaders to administer as many vaccines as possible to first responders, frontline medical professionals and seniors age 65 and older. DeSantis announced that since Manatee County’s vaccination efforts were going so well, he would release an additional 500 vaccine doses to the county. Saur said those doses were fully booked using the new lottery process by noon the following day.

An update on the county’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts is expected during the Jan. 12 county commission meeting.

What to expect when you’re getting a COVID-19 vaccine

What to expect when you’re getting a COVID-19 vaccine

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Health.

MANATEE COUNTY – While the process to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccination appointment has changed to a new lottery-style system, the process for receiving your first dose of the vaccine once you score an appointment remains the same.

The Sun rode along with Sylvia Swain while she received her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Jan. 6 at the Manatee County Bennett Park vaccination site. The entire process took about 90 minutes to complete and here’s what local seniors can expect when they arrive for their first dose of the vaccine.

The Bennett Park site is a drive-thru vaccination site where recipients are asked to remain in their vehicles the entire time unless otherwise directed by onsite medical personnel.

When entering the facility, vaccine recipients are directed through several different checkpoints before they receive the vaccine dose. The first checkpoint is at the entrance where the recipient’s vaccine appointment is confirmed and their photo identification checked for name and age verification. Recipients are required to have a valid, government-issued photo identification and either a copy of their appointment confirmation or the confirmation number.

Upon entering the park, drivers are divided into two vehicle lanes where vaccine recipients have their temperature checked and have to show a completed copy of the COVID-19 vaccine screening and consent form, which can be found online. For anyone without a completed form, a blank form is provided at this point to fill out before moving forward. Vaccine recipients are asked to turn over their completed forms to onsite healthcare workers and are given their vaccine cards, a document that shows when and where the vaccine dose was administered. The vaccine card is required to be kept and will need to be presented to onsite healthcare workers when receiving a second vaccine dose.

Once all of the paperwork is done, recipients move forward to receive the vaccine dose.

“That was quick,” Swain said upon receiving the vaccine. Though she said she didn’t feel any discomfort when receiving the vaccine, the following day she said her arm was sore and she felt a bit tired, though the symptoms dissipated within a few hours. She added that she felt better personally about her health following receipt of the vaccine and that she’s looking forward to receiving the second dose.

After receiving the vaccine, recipients move on to a field where they park their vehicles and wait 15 minutes to see if they have any adverse reactions to the vaccination. Anyone with a history of allergic reactions to vaccines may be asked by healthcare workers to wait for 30 minutes before being dismissed.

Once the wait time is up, you’re free to go, at least for the next few weeks.

The Moderna vaccine, the one currently being administered in Manatee County, requires two doses given 28 days apart, though county Public Safety Director Jake Saur said that there’s a window of about three to four days on either side of the 28 days to administer the final dose of the vaccine.

To receive the second dose of the vaccine, recipients must receive it in Manatee County. About a week before your second vaccine appointment, 311 operators will contact you at the phone number you provide when signing up. Seniors should look for a call from 941-742-4300. Saur said that the first contact will most likely be by text and that operators will call anyone who doesn’t confirm their second vaccine appointment by text.

While the first vaccine doses are currently being administered at Bennett Park in Bradenton, the second dose is planned to be administered to eligible recipients at the Department of Public Safety. And though there is a shortage of available vaccine doses coming from federal to state and then to local sources, Saur said that the second vaccine dose is guaranteed to recipients who’ve already received a first dose from Manatee County.

For more information about receiving the vaccine, visit the Manatee County vaccine information website.

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Manatee County launches new vaccine sign up program

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Archives.

MANATEE COUNTY – During an emergency meeting today, county commissioners met to discuss how to improve the process by which people 65 and older can sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. They voted unanimously to accept the new lottery-style system.

County Public Safety Director Jake Saur said that after issues with websites crashing and people unable to access the limited number of 311 operators to schedule appointments, a new idea was needed. The suggestion he came to commissioners with is to institute an ongoing registration system for anyone age 65 and older to enter their information to go into a lottery to get an appointment to receive a vaccine when they’re available.

Right now, Saur said the State of Florida has no COVID-19 vaccine doses currently to send to Manatee County, though 240,000 vaccine doses are planned to be received and distributed next week across the state. He added that none of those doses are guaranteed to be received in Manatee County.

Planned to launch at 10 p.m. on Jan. 7, the new website will ask people to enter basic information, such as their name, phone number and an email address, which is optional, as well as confirm that they are at or over age 65. The person will then get a reservation number, which will need to be kept, and will be entered into a vaccine waiting pool. As more vaccines are received by Manatee County, 311 operators will contact people at random in the vaccine waiting pool to set up an appointment. If a person doesn’t respond or isn’t available during the appointment period, their name will be returned to the pool and another person will be selected. Anyone who doesn’t have access to a computer will be able to call 311 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to enter the vaccine waiting pool over the phone.

The new lottery method of granting vaccine appointments will be ongoing and is expected to reduce public frustration when trying to book a vaccine appointment due to their not being a need to rush to sign up. It won’t be a first come, first served process like what the county has previously used with Eventbrite registration, which will now only be available internally to Manatee County employees.

Entering the vaccine waiting pool is not an appointment, it’s entering a standby waiting room for when vaccine doses become available. It also does not guarantee when an appointment time will be available.

Saur said that while the team administering the vaccines is ready and able to ramp up to giving out 2,000-3,000 vaccines per day with more sites than the current drive-thru vaccination site at Tom Bennett Park, the issue is a lack of vaccine doses. As soon as the supply line for vaccines is increased, Saur said he hopes to receive more consistent shipments and be able to distribute vaccines to the public faster.

While some Manatee County commissioners and residents expressed frustration that vaccine doses are available to everyone, not just county residents, Assistant County Attorney Bill Clague said that how the vaccinations are distributed is not up to local leaders. The Manatee County Department of Health is a part of the Florida Department of Health and is operated as a state agency located in the county. As a state agency, vaccines have to be distributed according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ orders, which allow for the vaccines to be given to anyone age 65 and older regardless of residency.

Saur said the goal for his department is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible given the availability of vaccine doses.

A website address for the new vaccine registration waiting pool will be announced on the county’s vaccine website.

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Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Health.

Updated 1/4/21 – Manatee County Public Safety Director Jake Saur announced that 1,400 vaccine doses had been received by the county for distribution to seniors age 65 and older and front line healthcare workers. Of those doses, 1,200 will be available to seniors to book appointments online for Jan. 5 and 6 at 2 p.m. on Jan. 4. Seniors without computer access can also dial 311 ext. 1 to book over the phone with a county operator. Saur warns that 311 staff is limited so it’s better to try to book vaccine appointments online if possible.

Anyone with medical questions concerning the vaccine should contact their primary care physician or the Manatee County Health Department.

Front line healthcare workers seeking a vaccine can go to the Bennett Park site on Jan. 5 and 6 between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. to receive their first COVID-19 vaccination. Workers must have a copy of their state healthcare license and be able to prove that they work in direct contact with patients in order to receive a vaccine.

MANATEE COUNTY – More than 1,000 seniors age 65 and older in the county have received COVID-19 vaccinations as of Jan. 2, according to the county’s social media page. Any senior who didn’t receive a vaccination appointment in the first round will have another chance to try for an appointment beginning at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 2.

In a Dec. 29 briefing, Manatee County officials discussed receiving 3,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine to be distributed beginning on Dec. 30 and continuing through Jan. 4 to seniors, first at the Manatee County Department of Public Safety and then at Bennett Park. Those appointments filled up within minutes, leaving many seniors wondering when they could receive the vaccine. Information Outreach Manager Nicholas Azzara said that as available vaccine numbers dwindle to 500 or less, more shipments of the vaccine will come to Manatee County for distribution.

To sign up for one of the vaccine appointments released Jan. 2, visit the county website to fill out the Department of Health COVID-19 screening and consent form. Both forms can be filled out in advance and need to be printed and taken to your vaccine appointment. Visit the site at 2 p.m. on Jan. 2 to book your vaccine appointment.

Vaccine appointments are available to anyone age 65 and older. There is no residency requirement, however, the Moderna vaccine requires two doses with the second one to be received 28 days after the first one. Anyone receiving the first vaccine dose in Manatee County must also receive the second dose in Manatee County. Vaccine records do not transfer.

To receive the vaccine, patients must provide photo ID, present their screening results and provide a copy of their appointment reservation. All vaccinations provided by Manatee County are given free of charge.

Currently, vaccines are being distributed in a drive-thru location at Bennett Park, 280 Kay Road in Bradenton. When getting a vaccine, patients are advised to not leave their vehicle unless requested to by onsite medical personnel.

If unable to get a vaccine appointment on Monday, Azzara asks people to be patient and continue to monitor the county’s website for the release of upcoming appointments. You can also sign up for email alerts.

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Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Health.

MANATEE COUNTY – The county is giving a New Year’s gift to its seniors. The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Manatee County on Dec. 28 and distribution to seniors age 65 and older will begin on Dec. 30.

During a Dec. 29 press conference held via Zoom, Manatee County Information Outreach Manager Nicholas Azzara said that 3,500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine had arrived in the county and that appointments for distribution of those vaccines to seniors aged 65 and older are now open.

The first two days of vaccine distribution, on Wednesday, Dec. 30 and Thursday, Dec. 31, will take place at the Manatee County Department of Public Safety complex at 2101 47th Terrace E. in Bradenton. Up to 300 people per day are expected to be vaccinated at the Department of Public Safety. On Friday, Jan. 1, the vaccine distribution center will be moved to Bennett Park at 400 Cypress Creek Blvd. in Bradenton. At Bennett Park, appointments are planned to be booked through Jan. 4 with up to 500 people vaccinated per day. Both sites will be drive-thru vaccination sites.

To book an appointment, visit the Manatee County website to complete the Department of Health vaccine screening and consent form. Print out a copy of the consent form which will be required onsite before a vaccine can be administered. Once that is complete, an Eventbrite site will open up to allow you to schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine. If the website is busy, Azzara said to please keep trying. If you do not have computer access, please call the Manatee County Department of Health at 941-748-0747 for assistance.

Once you have an appointment, please arrive at the vaccine location on time and with a copy of your consent form, registration ticket from Eventbrite and photo identification to prove your age. All vaccine recipients are asked to stay in their vehicles unless directed to exit by onsite medical personnel. Anyone with a history of allergic reactions to vaccines will be asked to remain for 15-30 minutes after receiving the vaccine for observation.

While the 3,500 doses of the vaccine received by the county won’t come close to vaccinating all of the more than 100,000 residents at or over age 65, more vaccines are promised by the Florida State Attorney General’s Office to be on the way once Manatee County’s supply dwindles down to 500. As more vaccines arrive, more appointments will be available online for qualified individuals trying to get the vaccine.

There is no charge to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through the Manatee County vaccination site.

There are no residency requirements to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Manatee County. However, once the first dose of the vaccine is received, the recipient must receive the second dose in Manatee County. Vaccine records will not be able to be transferred to another state or facility. For the Moderna vaccine, a second dose must be administered 28 days after the first dose. While Manatee County does not yet have the Pfizer vaccine, that one has a 21-day period before a second dose must be administered. Illegal immigrants with valid photo identification who meet the age requirement will be able to receive the vaccine in Manatee County.

Manatee County Chief of Emergency Medical Services James Crutchfield said that once initial doses of vaccine are administered, a system will be set up for those requiring a second dose to register for vaccine appointments.

Residents of assisted living, nursing homes or other long-term care facilities will receive a vaccine from the staff of those facilities. Hospital staff and patients requiring the vaccine will receive their vaccinations at those facilities. The vaccines allotted to local hospitals will not be made available to the general public at this time.

For anyone who cannot get to one of the county-run facilities to receive their vaccine, Crutchfield said that plans for localized community vaccination distribution are being made though those vaccinations will take place further down the road. Right now, he said the priority for Manatee County is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible to work toward herd immunity, expected to occur when 70-80% of the population has been vaccinated.

Currently, there is no timeline for when the vaccine will be made available to people less than 65 years old in the state of Florida.

While the Manatee County appointment site is a stop-gap for the time being, a state registration site for vaccinations is expected to be launched in two weeks.

For questions about the vaccine, dial 311.

Even once you receive a vaccination, county health officials still recommend practicing safe social distancing, wearing masks and frequent handwashing.

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Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – COVID-19 has reached a new high on Anna Maria Island – 166 cases have been reported since March, according to the Sunday, Dec. 6 Florida Division of Emergency Management report.

Of those, 86 cases were in Holmes Beach, with 50 cases in Bradenton Beach and 30 cases in Anna Maria.

The numbers are up from 145 cases reported on the Island as of Sunday, Nov. 29, when there were 77 cases in Holmes Beach, 42 in Bradenton Beach and 26 in Anna Maria.

Numbers are also up in Cortez, with 11 cases reported, and the Manatee County portion of Longboat Key, with 88 cases reported.

According to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) COVID-19 Dashboard as of early Monday afternoon, 17,474 Manatee County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, in addition to 239 non-county residents.

Between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5, an additional 984 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Manatee County.

As of Monday, 995 people in Manatee County had been hospitalized with COVID-19 to date and there had been 391 reported COVID-19-related deaths.

According to FDOH, 64 patients were currently hospitalized in Manatee County with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 as of Monday. Statewide, 1,040,727 residents and 17,347 non-residents had tested positive since March, with 56,547 COVID-19 hospitalizations and 19,423 COVID-19-related deaths.

A positive COVID-19 test is reported and attributed to the person’s home address and zip code; for example, a person who works on Anna Maria Island but lives in Bradenton is reported as a Bradenton case. An out-of-county visitor is reported as a non-resident.