DAVENPORT, Fla. — CVS is now on the list of pharmacies offering the COVID-19 vaccine in Polk County, yet some residents say they still haven’t been able to get vaccinated.
CVS Pharmacy began administering vaccines in Florida this week, including two Polk County locations. Those pharmacies are fully booked and so are others.
“I’ve tried Publix and they give you a thing, 'oh well we’re overbooked,'” said Nilsa Capifali.
Capifali, 69, and her 88-year-old mother say they’ve been trying for two months to get vaccinated.
They were finally able to get on Polk’s vaccine registration list on Jan. 28 and have been waiting ever since.
“I have a neighbor who told me to go on the Orange County website and she got an appointment the following week,” Capifali said.
According to the Polk County Department of Health’s website, they are currently scheduling vaccinations for registrations that were made on Jan. 17. More than 3,000 people registered that day.
“Sometimes you don’t sleep and then you think maybe tomorrow I’ll call here. You don’t sleep sometimes thinking about it and that’s not fair,” Capifali said.
Capifali lives in Davenport and the closest vaccination sites are in Lakeland. Lakeland Regional Health is evaluating additional sites.
“Looking at two City of Lakeland facilities. One being Lakeland Linder International Airport and the other being the RP Funding Center. They did a site visit at Lakeland Linder reviewing what we have there,” said Kevin Cook, City of Lakeland spokesperson.
Officials say additional locations should help get more residents vaccinated.
