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Florida’s vaccine age drops to 60 Monday. You can sign up now.

Some registration sites are allowing newly eligible Floridians to make accounts or sign up for appointments in advance.
 
Nurse Joan Diehl prepares COVID-19 vaccinations at the Strawberry Festival Fairgrounds in January. On Monday, Florida will change its vaccine eligibility to people 60 and older, but many outlets were prepared to schedule appointments starting Friday and through the weekend.
Nurse Joan Diehl prepares COVID-19 vaccinations at the Strawberry Festival Fairgrounds in January. On Monday, Florida will change its vaccine eligibility to people 60 and older, but many outlets were prepared to schedule appointments starting Friday and through the weekend. [ IVY CEBALLO | Times ]
Published March 12, 2021|Updated March 15, 2021

Floridians 60 and older will have access to coronavirus vaccines starting Monday as the state’s eligibility age for vaccination drops by five years. But you can start signing up now in some places.

Publix opened its online vaccine reservation system to residents 60 to 64 starting Friday, according its website. CVS and Walmart pharmacies said they will open appointments to that group starting Monday, when Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order to lower the age goes into effect. Winn-Dixie said it will change its online scheduling tool early next week and encouraged people to keep checking its website for updates.

The website for Walgreens still showed an eligibility age of 65 Friday afternoon. The company did not immediately respond to requests for information.

Tampa Bay’s four core counties are all using patientportalfl.com, which requires users to create an account and select a county before scheduling an appointment. Some of the counties had already tweaked the system to accept people ages 60 to 64 by Friday afternoon, while others were still working to do so.

Those residents could start signing up for appointments in Pinellas County on Friday, the health department said. The appointments will start Monday at various sites set up by the health department in St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park and Largo. Another site in north Pinellas will open soon.

Hillsborough County should be able to accept signups from residents 60 to 64 by end of day Friday, said health department spokesman Kevin Watler. The first available appointments will be Wednesday at various county-run sites.

In Pasco County, Floridians 60 to 64 should be able to create an online account starting Friday, health department spokeswoman Melissa Watts said. Registration for new appointments will open Sunday at 2 p.m. and be scheduled for next week.

Once appointments are filled, new appointments in Pasco will not be available until the following Sunday, the county health department said. All appointments will take place at one of two sites: Gulfview Square Mall in Port Richey or Saint Leo University in St. Leo.

Hernando County will also open appointments to people 60 to 64 on Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. They will be scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Hernando County Fairgrounds in Brooksville.

People who wish to schedule an appointment at a county-run site but do not have access to a computer can call 1-844-770-8548 for assistance.

Staff writers Allison Ross and Natalie Weber contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the locations for vaccination in Pinellas County.

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