Gateway Mall vaccine site closes early Saturday because of severe weather

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The federally-supported COVID-19 vaccination site at Gateway Mall closed early Saturday evening because of severe storms moving into the area.

A spokesperson said the decision was made for everyone’s safety.

The site is typically open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The closure was announced just before 5 p.m. and it was alter announced that the site would remain closed for the rest of the night.

It will reopen Sunday at 7 a.m.

The Gateway Mall site and the other federally-supported vaccination sites in Florida can administer up to 3,000 first doses of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine a day, according to a statement from a spokesperson for the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

The site changed to offering Pfizer shots after the Gateway Mall site halted distribution of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine within hours of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommending a pause in use of the J&J vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots.

The CDC gave the go-ahead on Friday to resume J&J shots but we are waiting to hear how the logistics of that will be handled.