Paddock Mall vaccine site to open for those with appointments

Rae Austin, the Ocala Regional Medical Center pharmacy operations manager, draws the COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe as she prepares the vaccinations for health care workers at the hospital on Wednesday. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

Rae Austin, the Ocala Regional Medical Center pharmacy operations manager, draws the COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe as she prepares the vaccinations for health care workers at the hospital in this file photo. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

On Tuesday, the Department of Health in Marion County opens its COVID-19 vaccination operations to the Paddock Mall, according to a press release.

The new location at the mall, 3100 SW State Road 200, is a joint venture between the DOH, AdventHealth Ocala, Marion County Emergency Management and the Paddock Mall.

The location is open only to those with an appointment for a vaccination. The DOH will contact those who registered earlier and schedule appointments.

Those with vaccination appointments will park at the Paddock Mall entrance nearest the Belk department store entrance and check-in. Once inside, staff members will complete the registration.

Once registration is complete, residents will receive the vaccine. After receiving the vaccination, recipients will be observed for 15 to 30 minutes for possible adverse reactions and if none is noted will be allowed to leave.

The vaccination site will open normally on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Only those with appointments will receive vaccines. No walk-in appointments are available, according to a press release.

The DOH received more than 50,000 registrations in its week of signups. They are currently processing those registrations.

“We are continuing to schedule the first 10,000 who registered with us for vaccination appointments. Based on our registration data, this first registration group is almost all individuals who registered on Mon., Dec. 28,” said DOH-Marion Administrator Mark Lander. “We are currently able to distribute about 3,000 vaccines each week in combination with our partners.”

Meanwhile, opportunities for people who are 65 and older to receive a COVID-19 vaccination continue to expand in Marion and surrounding counties. People who are interested in receiving a COVID-19 vaccination are encouraged to sign up for the shot with locations in the community as they become available, the press release stated.

“Ultimately, we want individuals to be able to get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Lander said. “Being signed up with the health department doesn’t disqualify you from checking elsewhere for other available COVID-19 vaccination opportunities, and we encourage you to check all opportunities available to you.”

More than 170 vaccination sites have been opened statewide in partnership with local communities and hospitals. To find a list of vaccine locations in Florida, please visit floridahealthcovid19.gov/vaccines/vaccine-locator.