Camping World Stadium transforms from venue to COVID-19 vaccine site

Site offers shots of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Camping World Stadium in Orange County debuted its coronavirus vaccination operations Tuesday.

Operations ran smoothly as people drove up to get a shot of Pfizer’s vaccine or Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine. In most cases, people were lining up to get a coronavirus vaccine for the first time.

The mass vaccination site was tapped to be part of the county’s effort to get shots into more arms as Florida sees a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

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During the surge, Orange County has seen an increase in demand for coronavirus testing, especially at its Barnett Park site.

For weeks, cars would wrap around Barnett Park in long lines with the site often reaching capacity before the day’s end. Despite the long lines of people, vaccines would still be available. To help alleviate traffic and prevent people from being deterred by the long lines, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the county would switch vaccine operations over to Camping World Stadium.

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“By focusing on just doing the vaccinations at Camping World, we’re able to move people through, we believe, much more efficiently,” Demings said during a Monday coronavirus briefing.

The move comes as the mayor says Orange County is seeing more of its residents opting to get vaccinated. Demings said last week’s data revealed 70% of all vaccines have been first doses.

Crews at Camping World Stadium are offering doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to anyone 12 and older. Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine is available to anyone 18 and older. The site is can administer up to 750 doses a day and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.


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