JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Monday is the first day vaccinations begin at Mandarin Senior Center and Lane Wiley Senior Center in Duval County.
The vaccinations are for Duval County residents who are 65 years old or older, healthcare workers, and first responders. It's first come, first served and city officials asked people not to line up before 10 a.m. but people showed up before 5 a.m. to wait in line at the senior centers.
By 8 a.m. at Lane Wiley Senior Center the line stretched across the parking lot and into the neighboring park. At Mandarin Senior Center people were waiting in line at 4 a.m.
Many people say they came early because they aren't taking any chances. Jim Bradlee and his wife were turned away three times in St. Johns County and waited a total of almost 20 hours.
"Three times, I wasn't taking any more chances," he said.
He and others in line at Lane Wiley are pleased with the system that divides up which day someone should come to get the vaccine by what month their birthday is in. If your birthday is in January or February you should come to get vaccinated Monday. It goes on for two months each day through Saturday.
"First come, first served is great, but if it includes everybody then it's just too many people," said Bradlee. "This is a much better option."
Many people are in line because they couldn't get one of the vaccine appointments online. On Thursday there were 390,000 people trying to schedule an appointment at the same time. That's almost six times as many people that fit in the Jaguars stadium.
"It's like winning the lotto," said Robert Bransford, who was second in line at Lane Wiley. "Calling was probably about 60 times and then online probably about 20."
The first person in line at Lane Wiley, Gus Turner, said he wasn't sure what time to come so he came before 5 a.m.
"They say 'don't come too early' and all that but I don't know what time to do and I wanna be here, first or second," Turner said. "So I'm just gonna wait it out. I don't mind."
The mayor says you should not get in line after 6 p.m. See the tweets and links below on what to bring to the vaccination site.
