By Russ and Tiña De Maris
We’ve all been agonizing for months with the COVID-19 pandemic. Locked away in homes. Stuck behind masks. Worried that we or our loved ones will come down with this dreadful disease. Then we got a glimmer of hope – workable vaccinations that may finally put an end to the curse of COVID. It’s been a month since the rollout, and now comes a new crisis: Can snowbirds get shots?
Get herd immunity
The stated goal of the world-wide vaccination campaign is to achieve herd immunity. Get enough people vaccinated, the virus won’t find suitable human hosts, and without a host, won’t be able to live and multiply. Eventually, the thinking is, the virus will simply whimper away. With a “million vaccinations per day,” the present mantra, it’s a matter of time before that herd immunity becomes a reality, right?
As we’ve witnessed, there are a few snags in the affair. Whatever the cause, it seems that there’s not enough vaccine where we want it to get everyone vaccinated as fast as the masses want. That’s led to plenty of trouble, particularly in the warm winter states and, most in the news of late, Florida. Initially we were told everyone could get the vaccine. Can snowbirds get shots? Sure!
Florida call to arms
But a couple of weeks ago, things got ugly. Some vociferous Floridians started yelling that the snowbirds were edging them out, and that the natives should go first. A study showed that only about 4 percent of the vaccines were ending up in the arms of non-Floridians, but that news seemed to get buried. Evidently the call to arms hit the ears of state-level government. New eligibility rules have rolled out. Can snowbirds get shots? Sure! IF. And yes, it’s a BIG IF. If you’re a snowbird and want the jab, you’ll need the proper documentation. That means:
- A Florida driver license or ID card;
- Or a combination of other official documents, such as a deed, mortgage or rental lease agreement;
- Or a utility bill or bank account statement in the person’s name.
It’s highly unlikely your average snowbird will have a Florida driver license or ID card. OK, what about those “official documents”? If Florida snowbirds are anything like Arizona snowbirds, we can tell you from experience, for many snowbirds it just isn’t going to happen. Granted, there aren’t a lot of free public lands to park an RV on down there in gator-land. But still, if you’re a snowbird who has friends or relatives who are willing to “put you up” on their property, you certainly won’t have anything like a deed, mortgage or rental lease agreement. The same will certainly be true for utility bills and bank accounts.
Some leave Florida
Can snowbirds get shots? Given those limitations, as far as many RVers are concerned it’s a no-go situation. Since a “combination” of documents is called for, an RVer may have a copy of a rental agreement with an RV park but, hey, utilities are included. The average RVer won’t have a receipt from Florida Power and Light. These RVers are, as they say, “fresh out of luck.”
As a result, the news is carrying stories of Florida snowbirds who say they’ll be pulling up stakes and heading out of the Sunshine State. Evidently, that’s just fine by some vocal vaccine zealots. “Let ‘em go elsewhere.”
But is there a flaw in the logic here? The idea of herd immunity is to immunize the masses to protect the masses. Last we checked, COVID-19 didn’t ask to see a driver’s license, nor a combination of documents prior to taking up residence in a human body. OK, so a bonafide Florida resident gets their vaccination but, say, next week rubs elbows with a non-vaccinated snowbird who just happens to be a COVID carrier. That already-jabbed Floridian stands a good chance of catching COVID from the carrier, as their immunity still hasn’t kicked in. Just sayin’.
What about other snowbird states?
What about other popular snowbird states? At last check, the Grand Canyon State, while way behind on getting vaccines out of vials and into arms, has a wide-open policy toward who can get the jab. Can snowbirds get shots in Arizona? Yes, and so can folks from “elsewhere.” “Vaccine is one of those things that we make available no matter if you’re a winter visitor, if you’re here visiting from another country,” says Dr. Cara M. Christ, the state’s health director. “Because of the impact that the diseases that you vaccinate against have on the community, we want to make sure that we’re protecting everybody.”
As far as California goes, things aren’t so expansive. In Riverside County, if you want a COVID-19 vaccination you’ll need to do just as the folks in Florida. Show an ID, or provide suitable documentation. We weren’t able to track down anything official on how things are for Winter Texans. If you’ve heard, drop us a line.
Can snowbirds get shots? It depends. Do you have the paperwork? Or are you in a state that figures getting as many folks vaccinated is more important than your point of origin? Wear your mask. Keep up physical distancing. Wash your hands. For some, washing their hands means more than getting under the tap – it means getting out of Florida.
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It is very easy to criticize the Sunshine state about vaccines but we are a state that has a high population of seniors. The issue was that we had people from everywhere jamming up the website to get an appointment from out of state and then just flying in to get vaccinated. I wish we had enough vaccines for everyone but we don’t. Florida is doing an excellent job and you should look to the resident states to set up a program for their residents to get vaccinated. They could even transfer vaccines to Florida to cover their residents. Respectful please tell the entire story including the issue with vaccine tourism .
Great response Bill. We are in Florida, from California. I do not expect Florida to offer up vaccine to us. We are visitors, not residents. We know snowbirds who made decision to not come down because they did not expect to get the vaccine & didn’t want to put themselves in harms way. The irony of all this is, first, the “experts” said vaccine wouldn’t even be available for 2+ years and 2nd, in the beginning 60% of people were not going to even take the vaccine. So now everyone is complaining it’s not available when they want it. I worked in manufacturing, in charge of materials, logistics, etc. When you start up production of a new “product” you don’t start out at maximum output. I’m sure the pharmaceuticals are doing everything to increase output. Hasn’t even been a year and people are already being immunized. We should be grateful.
I know there will be plenty of PUSH BACK on this comment!
But, FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE, think these vaccines are a Cure All and the So Called “MAGIC BULLET”
IT’S NOT!
The so called “EXPERTS”, government Experts think that by creating this Herd immunity the virus will simply DIE off! Yet, other government Experts say that this Virus is gonna be around forever! So, which group of Experts do you believe?
I don’t believe any of them and I certainly don’t TRUST any of them! ONLY TIME WILL TELL!
People must realize this is not a Cure for the China Virus!
If and when they get 70 percent vaccinated in the World, we will see if it begins to KILL off the virus. If not, back to square one!
👍
Please read what CDC and World Health Organization are recommending. They have studied pandemics and diseases for 50 years or more and have been reliable sources of information. Please remember that social media and cable news outlets are not our best sources of medical information.
Glyn, and CDC lies repeating along with the WHO. Sadly there are no facts out there we can believe. There is money in this pandemic and the elites (hospitals) are making it while we ordinary people pay the price. Stop drinking the kool-aid.
With that reasoning “Really”, I hope you aren’t wasting getting a shot that could go to somebody that actually wants it and trusts it.
This is posing a problem for us. We live in Northern California and plan to head to Southern California in a couple of weeks, then off to Arizona in a couple more weeks. After thoroughly studying the science from a variety of reliable sources, when it’s our turn, we will be first in line to get our vaccines. Unfortunately we are under the 65 year old age criteria for the current shots here and if we are fortunate to get shot one before we leave our County, will San Diego County or Maricopa County give us our second poke?
We are tired of the cold weather and want to head south, but are also tired of having to limit our contact with grandkids and friends while COVID 19 is still such a threat. Anyway, we can’t wait until this pandemic is in our rear view mirror.
I find it interesting Florida wants you to come and spend your snowbird dollars there but now won’t give you the jab in the arm. I think any place that is refusing to give people there the jab should be avoided after the pandemic, and then listen to them whine.
No, we are not willing to die for your “snowbird dollars”.
Agree! Exactly true … Florida loves to collect all kinds of tax dollars from the snowbirds – but somehow doesn’t want to protect them in a pandemic (as well as all the other Floridians they come in contact with).
Yes ,Seann, stay away, we, Floridians, would appreciate it. Boy the gossip and stories are spreading like wild fire. Perhaps people should check their facts before spreading the gossip.
News article earlier this week about a Rich Mexican TV host flew into Florida in his private plane, received the vaccine, then flew home. Money talks. BS walks.
Alabama seems to be sticking to the official list. Massive confusion at vaccine site, as expected. They had never done mass shots before. Took 8 hours for me on second day.
Military medics are much better at mass injections. One person in charge really helps.
If you’re a Florida snowbird I’m pretty sure that you have the documentation required to receive your vaccine. If you don’t that should not be Florida’s problem. Florida is doing an excellent job of vaccinating their legal residents. The governor has made sure that those most at risk were first in line. Quit your moaning and groaning and find another issue to whine about, Chuck! You may want to check into the loss of freedom of speech issues!!!
I agree. We are long term Florida residents and appreciate our snowbird visitors. However, we have modified our travel plans to keep us close to home in order to get our vaccine this year. The vaccine process in north Florida has been very organized and efficient. Each state has provisions for residents. Perhaps relying on your home state makes it easier on everyone. Yes, Chuck, you may want to focus your well meaning attention on another issue.
We are in Florida now. We are not FL residents. Yes there have been a couple hundred non residents who came here for vaccinations but that number is less than 2% of the total vaccinations given. The main problem here is a xxxx xxx Governor who turned the process over to county health departments with zero preparation (NONE). The staff have never really worked a full day and are strapped with pre historic automation systems that become overwhelmed in seconds. They have changed the phone numbers a half dozen times and now appear to have turned the vaccinations over to PUBLIX (grocery store) where you can call and if you get an appointment you will have to travel to the Publix that has the vaccine IN THE STATE. This is how this state is doing it. We will not try and get a vaccination here. Our home state NC has the process under control and are doing a terrific job. (Bleeped by Diane. No name-calling, please.)
This is half-joke, half serious >> Can’t we just get managers from Chick-fil-A to take over the vaccine program? They are so much more efficient and have a system in place. This plan already worked out well for one town in South Carolina >> https://www.msnbc.com/craig-melvin/watch/mayor-recruits-chick-fil-a-manager-for-help-with-drive-thru-vaccine-line-100227141960
Maybe you oughta think about heading home?
Yeah bye bye. So far as I know Florida is fairly good at administering the jab. As for the comment above, Florida has been using a local supermarket system, Publix to give out the shots in some counties. Publix is ubiquitous in the state and has a highly efficient pharmacy system. The VA down here has been doing drive thru jabs, and the state has just started a county preregistration system to give out appointments. The local health departments have been doing the usual bad job of government agencies. So our extremely popular and efficient governor is taking the vaccine away from them in order to get it in peoples arms.
Some northern states have reportedly throwing vials of vaccine away when they do not have enough criminal arms to stick it into, and the Feds are giving it to terrorists at Gitmo before US citizens.
The planned vaccine for Gitmo has been cancelled by the Pentagon.
Hi, agesilaus. The last I heard, the plan to give shots to prisoners at Gitmo has been put on hold. And that involves about 40 people, which hardly makes a dent. But yes, it’s the principle of the thing. —Diane at RVtravel.com
I agree with you Steven. If Engineer doesn’t like our governor then perhaps he ought to find a state with a governor he does like. Governor DeSantis is doing his job, protecting Floridians, I appreciate him immensely. Don’t like him – then go somewhere else. I appreciate Snowbirds but those that live here year round pay taxes year round and support the small business year round. We should and do have say on how our state is run. Why is it some many people are coming here to live or play? Perhaps it is because it is a nice state that is run efficiently and cares for its Floridian residents. My feeling is if you like our state then don’t try to change it.
Perhaps you should return to NC and your own governor since the situation there is so much better. Florida residents will appreciate it!
Over 41,000 shots to non residents
Where did you come up with the premise the point of the vaccine is herd immunity? It is not. Saving peoples lives is first. Herd immunity is secondary. You feel 4% of the population is insignificant? That is 80,000 people! Rather a cavalier attitude with human life. Vaccines are still in very short supply from Federal Gov’t allocation. Snowbirds have a state which has/will be allocated vaccine for them.
You misunderstand herd immunity Fritz. You get the immunity one of two ways: having the disease or getting immunized. The former way of reaching herd immunity is cruel as you say. The latter is not and fortunately seems to be the way the country is now headed.
Unfortunately the tribal mentality continues. One is left to wonder if we’ll soon see those states refuse to send police and ambulances unless you are prepared to show that you are local. Don’t forget, the cost of developing and manufacturing these vaccines was paid for by the federal government, not the state or local government.
Some winter Texans in Cameron County have received the vaccine. The County offered two clinics last week. The one on Wednesday required proof of residency, vouchers were distributed to residents who had proof. Fridays clinic was first come first served.
Maybe Texas appreciates the economic value of the winter Texans.
The economic value isn’t the issue. A resident can very easily catch the virus from a snowbird or someone just passing through, in fact the later is probably more likely. The public health objective should be to vaccinate as many people as possible, with priority given to those in front line positions, those with particular vulnerabilities, and then by age with oldest first.
I am a brick and mortar resident Floridian living in a coastal community. I welcome snowbirds and want them (everyone) to get the vaccine as soon as possible, even here in Florida. I want the snowbirds to stay and spend their $ here. The issue for me is, provide Florida with enough vaccines for everyone. For a state such as ours or Arizona, don’t base the number of vaccines on population. I am not 65 or over so I don’t have my vaccine yet.
We too are FL residents. I’m over 65 but my wife has a few more years. We both received our vaccines last week. It was arranged by Charlotte County Health Dept at a drive through site. My wife is an RN and cares for compromised patients. I do have stents but also belong to the local CERT, Community Emergency Response Team, providing services such as teaching CPR, First Aid, search and rescue and assist in crowd control at large events ( air shows and boat races). Charlotte has the largest senior population in Florida at 69.7 years. Operation Warp Speed was a failure as far as the quantity of doses distributed and needs to be re-evaluated. When the number of vaccines are adequate, then the process will be able to flow efficiently.
At the risk of incurring your wrath, you misstated FL’s requirements to receive the vaccine. Its contained in Florida Statute 381.986)5)(b).
Most, if not all RV parks have leases for seasonal residence and meter electric and are providing their residents with the documentation. Bills from FPL are not required. Other RVers are using their Post Office mail forwarding as the additional proof. “Seasonal”, according to the Governor, is anyone living in in Florida at least part time. Those traveling through or around Florida or vacationing here should not expect to use Florida’s vaccine allocation which is already stretched by the large numbers of seasonal residents.
I agree that snowbirds should be able to get the vaccine, but not at the exception of actual residents.
The govt. allocates the vaccine by the number of residents in the state. You are a visitor.
I live in Western PA and could easily drive to West Virginia where they have the best vaccination rate in the country. I’m sure if the shoe was on the other foot, you too would be upset.
Who’s paying for the vaccine, States or Federal? Far as I know, it’s Federal, so how does one state get to decide I can’t benefit from what MY Federal tax dollars paid for? Beyond that, DexxxSantis is an xxxxx, bought and paid for by Publix. (Bleeped by Diane. No name-calling, please.)
The name calling is uncalled for and shows that you have to resort to name calling instead of putting some real ideas out there on how to deal with the issue.
Agreed
Please don’t demonize Florida or our governor. As previously stated, we have a huge population of seniors here and the powers that be are trying to make sure they get the vaccine in a timely manner.
That being said, my wife and are lifelong Florida residents that full-time at a park in Central Florida. The park population doubles during snowbird season. Last Sunday EVERYONE in the park was able to get the first vaccine shot if they chose to. Park management reached out to the local health department and organized it.
If you are legitimately staying here as a snowbird, you will have something to document that. If you are just here to utilize our resources because your state is having a problem then stay home.
love that!
In the Coastal Bend of Texas, the City of Corpus Christi operates a Mega Clinic. I went last week and received a shot after waiting in line for 6 hours. It is first come first served, basic info on registration, and there were people in line in driving Diesel Pushers, as well as Mexican license plates.
We are all Gods children and everyones life deserves to be saved. Give everyone the vaccine no matter where their from. Just follow the criteria each state set up. From health care workers to elderly seniors, those with serious heath conditions and so on.
If only we actually lived in your utopia…
State residents and long term visitors should get it before vacationers and the fly in/fly out crowd. I read that they are flying in from S. Africa too, just to get the vaccine.
I find it rather amusing that proof of identity is needed to get a life saving vaccine, but no such proof is needed in America to vote for those who are granted the power to administer it.
It’s amazing & appalling that so MANY things require valid ID, but not voting.
Absolutely!
I don’t know where Russ&Tina stay in FL but every time we went there we had to pay the local electric company’s bill that was sent to us via email which could easily be printed for proof. The only furnished utilities was water and sewer. That’s my biggest gripe about journalism, they get a degree and immediately they start writing without researching the subject pulling “facts” out of thin air. That’s as bad as pulling water out of thin air with a $2000 dehumidifier. Lol
Every private park we have stayed in while in Florida included electric if the stay was less than seven days. More than seven days, electric was separate. At least is was while staying in Bonita Beach, St. Augustine, Sarasota, Ft. Lauderdale, the Keys, Ft. Myers and other locations. Also, as a dual resident of Florida and Pennsylvania, (not just in Fl for the winter) we were able to receive our first shot last week. Our governor at first opened the vaccine to all people and appeared daily at a news conference publicity stunt. He loves the attention and changes his mind like the wind blows. His idol is no longer the leader and he must now make up his own mind.
Critical of FL leadership, yet you got the vaccine. Crickets about PA leadership handling of vaccine and they are in disarray. The idol you reference is gone, now its time to blame EVERYTHING on the new idol.
Yea George , I am being critical. What I didn’t feel the need to say was that I am involved at the county level with coordination of vaccines for those that make the call or enroll online. The instructions have been in the media. There was no direction from Tallahassee. Our local Health Department set up the guidelines. Our Emergency Operation Center set up the procedure. The number of vaccines available “provided by the state” dictate the number of openings we have. Time of appointments are from 9:00 to 12:30, typically four days a week. The drive through site is manned by Dept of Health workers, Fire and Police personal, and CERT volunteers. It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you enter the parking lot to the “jab”. Then 15 minutes for a reaction check by a paramedic, nurse or doctor. All this without state guidance.
BTW, I agree with the PA distribution.
The new Florida rules are very disappointing. We are “snowbirds” and have been in Florida for the past year because we were unable to travel due to Covid. We have rental agreements dating back as far as November 2019 and a P.O. Box rental agreement from that time. It’s hypocritical that Florida welcomes our dollars spent in their restaurants, RV parks and grocery stores but won’t welcome us to receive a vaccine that would save our lives and allow us to continue to add to the economy of Florida every year.
With a rental agreement you are allowed to register & get vaccinated in FL …
I am an over 65 year old Floridian, and I blame the Feds for the inadequate roll out issues. My first shot was in mid-Jan at the Co. Fairgrounds. Despite lack of planning, St. Lucie Co. did a great job. At the time our Governor was allowing anyone 65+ to get the vaccine, no matter the home state. New York had different priorities, so many folks in this age group made reservations and travelled down just for the shot. I was in line with seniors from NY and NJ that did just that. One couple has two reservations for their second shot, one in Florida, and if that doesn’t pan out, one in NY. If the Federal Government had planned and controlled the priorities and rollouts throughout the states, there would have been no need for folks to travel for shots. I agree that snowbirds in all states should be on the same footing as year round residents. As was said previously, the Federal Government is footing the bill for the vaccines. They should call the shots (pun intended).
Has anyone done some research on the covid 19 vaccine? Just wondering.
This is a tough call. I can see both sides. I live in FL and we RV for road trips (not full-timers). But at this point, with so few vaccines vs. how many want them, I feel I have to come down on the side that says snowbirds should not be able to get the shots here in FL. Should have to return to their own state or country. Now down the road, if availability significantly increases, that position could be revisited.
FWIW, Florida is doing an excellent job of getting the vaccine out to people. They currently rank 3rd in the number of doses given, behind California and Texas.
I do find it strange that in a state where so many have resisted wearing masks, that so many seniors are now suddenly concerned with their health, wanting to be vaccinated ASAP.
For the self-centered Floridians that read this, it’s to your advantage to have the snowbirds vaccinated (Those of you that are truly self-centered will think I’m talking about someone else).
An observation from the various RV forums I follow: in terms of the vaccine rollout, there has been an inordinate amount of complaints from those who live in Florida. The common theme seems to be “Me First!”
I want snowbirds vaccinated too …but would like to see my parents & haven’t since COVID started but just might if we could get them in to be vaccinated. If you want to call me self centered because I want my parents protected for their health & so that I can visit safely … guess I must be someone else
I am a Florida resident and an Rver. I live in a county with 31,000 seniors over 65. Right now 7500 seniors have been vaccinated by the Department of Health in the last month. We are doing the best they can with the number of vaccines they are given. Most of those seniors do not have the luxury of traveling out of state to get vaccines so need to rely on what comes here. The state is allocated the # of vaccines per population. Rvers are not able to be counted for various reasons. If you live in a park for the winter , have your park write you a lease and you will get in line with the rest of us.
You need to be careful in your promotion of this so called vaccine for the Chinese Flu. The science is not proven except that there have many side affects….some even fatal!
All the comments I’ve read are about Florida. I am in Riverside County California. My formal residence is Livingston TX. I applied for my appointment using my Riverside CA address and presented my Passport, one of the alternative required photo IDs to prove I was the person who had reserved. No one questioned where my residence is. I then applied for an appointment for my wife in San Diego using our Riverside address and the software accepted it. We will see tomorrow when she presents her Passport for ID. We have heard of Riverside residents being turned away from another San Diego site (Petco Park) and of many others getting their shot there. It seems to be up to the particular screener.
I am a 50 year resident of Fl, an RVer for life and a full timer for 5 of the last 6 years. We made the decision to get off the road to care for my Mother and then to stay here until we get vaccinated in our STATE of RESIDENCE. I am 59 and don’t qualify for it yet even though I am a bad diabetic, so I am patiently waiting my turn. Unfortunately the number of doses for each state is based on existing population, not tourists. I am happy for the 25 percent of the FL population over 65 to be ahead of me, but each person who is counted in another state or country is one more who I see as cutting in line ahead of me. I am a retired health care worker who donated time to hospice. I could probably pull strings and get it, but fair is fair and rules are rules. Wait in line or go home where you may get it sooner. The choice is yours
We’re in Riverside County in Southern California and snowbirds are able to get their vaccinations with just a photo ID.
We have changed our plans for the summer in order to get our vaccine at home. We completely cancelled our May-Sep volunteer position because it was too far to return home for vaccinations and cannot be sure how other states will treat non-resident applicants.
We will still travel two states away for our two-month Spring camp host position since we make this trip twice a year to help with my aging mother. When I spoke with the volunteer coordinator, she had no clue as to whether we could or could not participate in their vaccine program. So hubby who is 70 will have his vaccinations before we leave; I may have to wait until we return.
Florida resident here, 57yo and categorized by the CDC in class 1B. Our governor has changed from CDC to state health official recommendations to get everyone 65+ covered and 1B waits. That is great but I & my DH are out here working fulltime in COVID stew conditions (quite literally) and we are supposed to go behind snowbirds that were not included in our population count for allocation? Some 40K people did not show up for their booster before snowbirds were cut off so believe some of those were travelers (& from out of the country on vaccine vacations) that just wasted a perfectly good vaccine not getting boostered.
Bad enough that we have a hard time getting campsites during prime camping months but to have to wait to get our own parents vaccinated because of system overload & have our governor tell us we are not critical to cover yet even though the CDC says we are…. FL residents first then travelers.
Different info than reported above- We just left Cochise County in AZ yesterday where our RVer friend (also from SD) was turned away last week from even registering for the vaccine because she was not a resident of the county or state. The AZ governor had said he wanted Snowbirds to get the vaccine, but you can’t get it at least in that county.