Publix Pharmacies In Florida Now Offering Walk-In COVID Vaccinations

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami/AP) -- You no longer have to make an appointment to get the COVID-19 vaccine at Publix pharmacies in Florida, and six other states.

You can if you want to, but it's no longer required.

The Lakeland-based supermarket chain said on its website that walk-in customers have the choice of the two-dose Moderna vaccine, or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, subject to availability.

Publix had already been offering walk-in availability at stores in Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee.
The notice that walk-ins are also welcome at stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia comes about a week after President Joe Biden issued a federal mandate that requires pharmacies in the federal retail pharmacy program to offer walk-in vaccinations.

Florida health statistics show that as of Sunday, 7,021,068 people have completed the series of doses required to be fully vaccinated, with either the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot. That represents about 33% of the state's population.

Another 2,244,748 people — or about 10% of Florida's population — have had at least one dose.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)