Orange County to close vaccine site at Convention Center in May

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Some changes being made to vaccine distribution in Central Florida: Orange County says the location at the convention center site will be shut down in May.

Health officials say this will not have an impact on how many vaccines they give out, but rather where.

They say they’ll still be able to do at least 3,000 vaccinations a day but they’ll be looking at doing mobile vaccine units near at-risk communities. 

MORE NEWS: Captain of Port Canaveral reacts to state's lawsuit against Biden administration, CDC

The vaccine site at the convention center will shut down at the end of May with the last first Pfizer vaccine doses given on May 5. After that, only the Johnson & Johnson shot will be given. 

The Florida Health Department in Orange County says they’re closing the vaccine site because the convention center has several large events planned over the summer and it can’t accommodate both. 

But Dr. Raul Pino says this move comes just as they’re shifting the vaccination strategy to areas that have lower vaccination rates. 

MORE NEWS: Health experts worry COVID-19 vaccine skepticism could put herd immunity at risk

"We don’t know the details yet about how the distribution is going to happen. In our case, we are going to try to work with the county to identify areas where we can place either mobile or pods closer to minority/at-risk communities that may have some challenges with transportation."

Dr. Pino says they’re working on an exit strategy now so look out for more details soon.