Where can Florida teachers get a COVID vaccine? The rules for eligibility vary by site

Teachers and school staff who work in pre-K through 12th grade or in a child care program can now get the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida because of a federal mandate that was issued earlier this week. But your options of where to go are limited.

Pharmacies like Navarro, Publix and Walmart are offering slots. And so are federally-supported sites like the one at Miami Dade College North campus.

But popular vaccination state-run sites including Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and Snyder Park in Fort Lauderdale are still limiting it to teachers and school staff 50 and older who work in K-12. The same goes for county-run sites Zoo Miami and Tropical Park and hospitals like Jackson Health System and Broward Health.

These sites have to follow Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order, which restricts vaccinations to K-12 school employees who are at least 50 and excludes pre-K and daycare workers.

To make things more complicated, both the Biden administration’s mandate and DeSantis’ executive order exclude college and university professors and staff. This means higher education employees can only get a vaccine if they fall under one of Florida’s other vaccination criteria, such as being 65 and older or having a medical condition that a physician determines makes you “extremely vulnerable” to COVID-19.

For now, here’s a list of places that are vaccinating pre-K-12th grade teachers, school staff and childcare workers and a list of places that are still only scheduling doses for K-12 teachers and staff 50 and older:

Things to know before you get a COVID-19 vaccine

▪ You are not required to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Broward County Public Schools and the Monroe County School District are encouraging it.

▪ There are three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States — Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which requires two doses 21 days apart, and is for people 16 and older; Moderna’s vaccine, which requires two doses 28 days apart; and Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose vaccine. Both Moderna and Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine is for people 18 and older.

▪ No matter where you get the vaccine, proof of Florida residency is required. There is no county requirement, which means a Miami-Dade resident can get the vaccine in Broward or the Keys and vice versa.

▪ Make sure you have your work badge, ID or paystub with you the day of your appointment. Most vaccination sites are requiring proof of employment

Where can pre-K to 12th grade teachers, school staff and child care workers get COVID-19 vaccines in South Florida?

All of the following locations offer vaccines to all pre-K to 12th grade teachers and school staff, including daycare and other childcare workers, ages 18 and up and regardless of medical condition. Appointments are required unless otherwise specified.

▪ Publix — publix.com/covid-vaccine/florida

▪ Navarro Discount Pharmacies, CVS y mas and traditional CVS stores — To book, visit CVS.com or call customer service at 800-746-7287.

▪ Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Más — For Winn-Dixie, visit winndixie.com/pharmacy/covid-vaccine. For Fresco y Mas, visit frescoymas.com/pharmacy/covid-vaccine.

▪ Walmart and Sam’s Club — For Walmart, visit https://www.walmart.com/cp/flu-shots-immunizations/. For Sam’s Club, visit https://www.samsclub.com/pharmacy.

▪ Federally-supported Miami Dade College North Campus — Appointments are not required, but they are recommended. The site is open every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is a walk-up, which means people wait in line instead of in their car. Anyone who would prefer to book an appointment, visit myvaccine.fl.gov.

▪ Ronselli Park Youth Center, at 250 SW 114th Ave, in Sweetwater — No appointment required. The site is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until March 10, which is when it will move elsewhere.

▪ Florida City Youth Activity Center, at 650 NW 5th Ave. No appointment required. The site is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until March 10, which is when it will move elsewhere.

▪ Holy Cross Health is not vaccinating educators but you can qualify if you have certain medical conditions. For details on eligibility requirements, visit www.holy-cross.com/covidvaccine.

These South Florida sites are offering COVID-19 vaccines to K-12 teachers, school staff 50 and older

The following sites are either state-run or county-run, which means they can only offer vaccines to people who meet the criteria listed in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis executive order. For school personnel, this means you need to work in K-12 and be 50 and older.

▪ Zoo Miami and Tropical Park — To book, visit miamidade.gov/vaccine

▪ Jackson Health System, to check for available appointments, visit https://jhsmiami.org/comvac/.

▪ Broward Health, to check for appointments visit https://www.browardhealth.org/pages/being-healthy-vaccine.

▪ You can join a wait list for select sites at myvaccine.fl.gov. or by calling 888-499-0840 or TTY 888-256-8918 in Miami-Dade. For Broward, call 866-201-6313 or TTY 844-252-2003.

Sites you can pre-register for in Miami-Dade include Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and Marlins Park in Miami.

State-run sites in Broward County include Snyder Park in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs, Markham Park in Sunrise, Tree Tops Park in Davie, Trade Winds Park in Coconut Creek and Central Regional Park in Lauderhill, and Broward College’s Coconut Creek campus.