Collier County residents continue to wait for vaccine with no word on when it will come

Surrounding counties have begun vaccinating those 65 and older, but residents in Collier County continue to wait for the opportunity to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

“As soon as it gets to me, I’m going to take it,” said Gary Johnson, of Collier County.

Johnson said he is being extra careful after losing his 78-year-old uncle to the deadly virus.

“I’ve got congestive heart failure,” Johnson said. “I have diabetes.”

Last week, the NCH Healthcare System began to vaccinate healthcare workers with direct contact with patients.

For now, Johnson will have to wait because Collier County has not announced plans to distribute the vaccine to the public. On Tuesday, Collier County officials got further into making their plan for when vaccines are received, but no information was released on when that could be. Lee County’s Department of Health began providing the vaccine on Monday. Charlotte County’s Department of Health has also announced plans to provide appointments for people to get vaccinated.

John Larosa, of Naples, said Collier’s lack of vaccine is a problem.

“Hopefully, they’ll get up to speed,” Hellana Larosa said. “We have a lot of visitors and things that could cause more problems here and a lot of people have to work.”

But not everyone minds the wait.

Terri White said she would rather opt-out for now.

“I am for vaccinations but I feel like we over vaccinate and for COVID, I feel like it’s too fast,” White said. “I feel like down the road there’s going to be some problems.”