FDOH-Charlotte launches call center for vaccine appointments, reservations

Reporter: Anika Henanger
Published: Updated:
Credit: WINK News

The Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County launched a call center Tuesday for COVID-19 vaccine appointments – and you can call ahead to reserve your spot.

The number is 866-200-9160 (or 833-990-3549 for TTY users), and while the County doesn’t have any vaccine doses available right now, you can go ahead and call to get your name on the list for when appointments are ready to be made.

“You’ll be able to register your information, and then you’ll receive a call back from a live person. That live person will coordinate your appointment based on availability. So, for example, let’s say one week, we received 2,000 vaccines, and next week we receive 1,000; they’ll be able to pull from this pool of people and then be able to register folks as appropriate. And then the system will automatically coordinate that second vaccine as well,” said Dr. Joseph Pepe, the administrator at FDOH-Charlotte.

The County is still working on launching a website for appointments and says it will happen soon.

Moving to a state-run registration system frees up Charlotte County staff to focus on the people it serves.

“I think all of our team, the biggest source of frustration is they want to help people. And you know, this gives them more options,” Pepe said.

When the time rolls around for those shots to be given, the drive-thru clinic is located at the Harold Avenue Regional Park, 23400 Harold Ave., in Port Charlotte.

There is no fee for the vaccine. Identification and proof of residency are required. If you are a health care worker, bring identification and a copy of your ID badge or a current paystub.

WINK News checked with Lee County, which also plans to turn to the state-run registration system, but they’re not yet ready to say when they’ll go live.


RESOURCE: WINK News is working by the minute on a daily basis to bring our coverage areas in Southwest Florida the latest COVID-19 vaccine information from the counties you live in.

Visit our COVID-19 vaccine schedules and information for SWFL story for rolling vaccine updates.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.