OCALA, Fla.—COVID-19 vaccine registration for residents age 65 or older is currently suspended in Marion County. The Department of Health in Marion County has temporarily closed registration for the vaccine due to signups exceeding the department’s initial 50,000 registrations cap.                                                               

“We’re capping the number of people included in this first round of signups to allow for staff to work through the current list of registrants and get them fully vaccinated,” said Department of Health in Marion County Administrator Mark Lander. “We will re-open registration once the first group of 50,000 registrants completes their vaccinations.”

DOH-Marion’s schedulers are calling registrants in the order in which their signups were received. After schedulers complete an over-the-phone screening with registrants, they will schedule a vaccination appointment. Due to the number of people who registered, it will take multiple weeks to work through the registrant list and schedule appointments. The department’s first appointments are Tuesday, Jan. 5.

The health department will be vaccinating with both the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines in the weeks ahead. These vaccines are both two-dose shots. Moderna requires 28 days between the first and second shot. Pfizer requires 21 days between the first and second shot.

DOH-Marion phone lines experiencing overloads

The department continues to experience a large volume of phone calls, which is leading to people receiving messages that the department’s telephone numbers are non-functioning. Because the phone lines are jammed, staff are also experiencing difficulty calling out from the facility, and calls are being dropped. People who have signed up for a COVID-19 vaccination and not received a call yet are asked to refrain from calling the department to see where they are in the list or when they will get a call about a vaccination.

“People who have signed up in the system will get a call back once the vaccine is available and a time and location is set for them to receive it,” Lander said. “Please know that we are not sitting on any vaccine here. As soon as vaccination opportunities become available, we are scheduling those vaccination appointments.”