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Orange County health officials: If you decide not to get vaccinated, cancel appointment beforehand

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Updated  January 12, 2021 5:19am EST
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FOX 35 Orlando

What happens to extra coronavirus vaccine doses?

Tens of thousands have received the coronavirus vaccine in Orange County. If there is a situation where the county has extra vaccine doses -- as a result of canceled appointments -- health officials say they will not go to waste.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Orange County health officials are asking those who decide not to go to their vaccination appointments to cancel beforehand.

"Please, please, if you have an appointment with us and you decide for whatever reason not to go, cancel the appointment on the website because that will open the appointment for another person to use," said Dr. Raul Pino, health officer for the Florida Department of Health in Orange County.

More than 43,000 people have been vaccinated in Orange County so far.

Pino says the process is moving rather quickly. That is why making sure they know exactly how many people will be getting vaccinations daily is so important.

"In order to speed up the vaccination process, pre-draw the dosage. So we have to be careful about how much we pull out of the vials because we don’t want to waste vaccine," he said. "Because after you withdraw, in some cases, they can only be used five hours after you put it in the syringe."

Dr. Pino said on Saturday, the Orange County Convention Center had 169 vaccine appointment cancelations. He says it is not an issue if people cancel using Orange County’s website ahead of time.

"We have zero waste so far. Waste means you draw more than you need, so we have not wasted one single dosage."

Any leftover doses can be used by healthcare workers at the site if they wish to be vaccinated, or county employees 65 and older who are working at the convention center at the time.