Editor’s Note: Apologies for the delay in clarifying.

Publix Appointment Link: www.publix.com/covidvaccine.

St. Johns County Appointment Link: https://tinyurl.com/y52tcoaz

Residents of St. Johns County now have two separate tracks to obtain a Covid-19 vaccination.

A State of Florida partnership with the Publix supermarket chain joins the recently-launched single-location St. Johns County Covid-19 vaccination program, multiplying both the number of available vaccination appointments and locations for county residents. Both systems are by appointment-only, and rely primarily on online reservations, and both are subject to limited vaccine supplies.

For residents of Marsh Creek, two nearby Public supermarkets are among 14 of the chain’s stores participating in the appointment-only Covid-19 vaccination project. They are Publix at Cobblestone, and the close-by Publix at Anastasia Plaza.

Publix Locations

Vaccines, by appointment only, are reserved for persons 65 years of age or older, healthcare personnel with direct patient contact, or long-term care facility residents and staff. For more information on the Publix vaccination program or to make an appointment, please visit www.publix.com/covidvaccine.

On January 2, less than two weeks ago, St. Johns County took control of Covid-19 vaccine distribution from the local office of the Florida Department of Health, setting up an appointment system using Eventbright, a popular online scheduling website.  That system, also by appointment-only, offers vaccinations – when supplies are available – on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at the Solomon Calhoun Community Center at 1300 Duval St, St. Augustine. To register for an appointment, use this link: https://tinyurl.com/y52tcoaz.

Both the St. Johns County and Publix reservation systems are currently closed until the arrival of new shipments of Covid-19 vaccines.

This week, the County announced the unexpected arrival of 500 new doses. Online applicants claimed them within 12 minutes after the appointment system reopened Thursday morning at 9:00am. Those vaccinations will be given Friday for those who succeeded in registering.

The county is also gearing up to begin administering the required second vaccine shot for those few who have received their first.

The Announcement:

Governor Ron DeSantis Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Sites at Publix Super Markets in St. Johns County

Governor Ron DeSantis announced a partnership today between the State of Florida and Publix Super Markets establishing COVID-19 vaccination sites in St. Johns County. Vaccination sites will be located at 14 Publix stores in St. Johns County. Vaccines will be administered by appointment only, and are reserved for persons 65 years of age or older, healthcare personnel with direct patient contact, or long-term care facility residents and staff. For more information or to make an appointment, please visit www.publix.com/covidvaccine.

A Neighbor’s Guidance

Jan 13, 2021, 6 PM

In trying to help some neighbors register with Publix and checking with others, I collected these hints. They may be helpful in navigating the site and setting expectations. 

1. Go to the Publix Website

https://www.publix.com/covid-vaccine

2. Look for the greeting message. It will either tell you to try again or that registrations are open. If open, go to the bottom of the page, click on registration and follow the prompts. You will need your personal information including your Medicare number.

3. If registrations are not available, keep hitting the refresh button. NOTE THAT THIS IS HIT OR MISS. If you try for 10 or 15 minutes (pure guess), there is a good chance you’ll be rewarded with entrance to the sign up portal. 

4. After entering personal info (including Medicare number if applicable), you are asked to select a county. Here is where it gets tricky.

5. After selecting a county, you are then presented with a list of the Publix locations which have available spots. The screen shows up to 10 locations, sorted by distance from your county. NOTE THAT THE CLOSEST LOCATION COULD BE HUNDREDS OF MILES FROM YOUR COUNTY. There is no way to screen how far you are willing to travel. 

6. If the location is suitable (and appointments are still available), you are then asked to choose an available date. From the date, you are asked for a time. Note that by the time you get to the time selection, all slots could be filled and you could be forced to go back to chooses another day. 

7. If all goes well, you are confirmed and at the bottom of the confirmation page, you are given the option of adding another person. You are then taken through the same process, skipping steps 1-3 above. Note that it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to sign the second person up for the same location and time.    In checking with others, there were indeed appointments available in the area, but they disappeared quickly. An unofficial Publix source stated that they are allotted a certain number of doses DAILY, so it’s worth checking the website often.