OCALA, Fla.—The Department of Health in Marion County is moving its COVID-19 vaccination operations to the Paddock Mall (3100 SW College Road, Ocala) beginning Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The site, a joint venture with AdventHealth Ocala, Marion County Emergency Management, and Paddock Mall, will be available for vaccinations by appointment only.

Process for vaccine recipients

The Paddock Mall vaccination site will be a walk-up operation, rather than a drive-through operation that other vaccination sites have used. People with vaccination appointments will park at the Paddock Mall entrance nearest the Belk department store entrance on Southwest College Road. 

Residents with appointments will begin the vaccination process at the mall entrance appointment check-in table. They will then walk inside the mall to the registration area, where staff members will verify their information.

Once registration is complete, residents will walk to the vaccination area where medical personnel will provide information about the vaccine they are about to receive and administer the vaccine. After receiving their vaccination, residents will walk to a seated waiting area where medical personnel will monitor them for 15 to 30 minutes for possible adverse reactions. After the monitoring window is complete, individuals will be permitted to depart the mall and return to their vehicles.

Vaccination site staff will have transportation available to help transport residents between their vehicles and the mall entrance. Residents who require wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility devices are asked to bring their own devices, as they will need to be able to wait in line for their vaccination appointment.

The Paddock Mall vaccination site is currently scheduled to be open for appointments each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The site is projected to schedule several hundred vaccination appointments each day. The department will be unable to support walk-in requests for vaccinations.

Health department staff continuing to schedule vaccination appointments

The department is continuing to schedule appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals who are age 65 and older. Demand for the vaccine has been high. DOH-Marion received more than 50,000 registrations in its week of signups.

“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.

“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.

For more information on preventing the spread of COVID-19, please visit cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html.