ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Central Florida’s FEMA-supported COVID-19 vaccination site reopened Monday morning, following weekend closures due to heavy storms.

What You Need To Know

  • Vaccinations resumed on Monday at the Orlando FEMA-supported site

  • Heavy storms shut down the site on Sunday and Saturday 

  • A FEMA spokesman says that the vaccines were never taken out of the freezer

  • RELATED: How to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Central Florida

The outdoor vaccination site at the Valencia College West Campus shut down all day Sunday because of storms. The weather also forced the site to close early Saturday.

The location was forced to close down early Saturday when storms moved through, and heavy storms kept the site closed Sunday. Due to thunderstorms early Sunday, officials originally said they would open later in the day and urged people to stay away until the weather cleared.

Lisa and Fred Coulter drove all the way from Volusia County Sunday for their second vaccine appointment.

“We actually made it out here before we found out they closed it all day,” said Fred Coulter. “It was like a Florida summer thunderstorm – with zero visibility – except it didn’t end.”

By 3 p.m., they said the site would not open again until Monday. 

“Out of an abundance of caution we want to make sure the people who work here are safe and the residents are safe. And with lightning in area, we didn't to take that chance,” FEMA spokesman CJ Prudom said.

The closures meant thousands of people could not get their shot. Up to 3,000 doses of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be administered at the site per day, plus second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

It should have been the busiest first weekend for teens and young adults to get their shots as the Sunshine State’s vaccine criteria now includes all Florida residents 18 years old and up, as well as 16 and 17 year olds who want the Pfizer vaccine with a parent’s permission. But Mother Nature had other plans.

Prudom said people scheduled Sunday for their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine can get the shot Monday when it would reopen at 7 a.m.

The Coulters were back at the FEMA site Monday and said they didn't mind making the trip twice.

“Oh it’s beautiful today – this is why you move to Florida,” said Fred Coulter.

“It’s not like I couldn’t take time off work — the last year the vacation time has just piled up,” he added.

The couple said waiting one more day was well worth it to get them closer to getting back what they’ve waited to do for an entire year.

“To know we got the vaccine and hopefully now we can be around people,” said Lisa Coulter.

As for the doses that were supposed to be used for Sunday, they can still be used, Prudom said.

“They never got out of the freezer, so they are viable doses. So, we carry those through the next application,” Prudom said.

The site is scheduled to be open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through May 26.

Other vaccination sites were also affected on Sunday.

A mobile site that had been scheduled at Latin Community Health Advisor in Orlando was canceled.

The mobile site at Washington Shores Church of Christ in Orlando was moved indoors but later canceled, as well.

The FEMA-supported vaccine site at Valencia College’s West campus is typically open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. It's often a very busy site for the Central Florida area, in part because of the ease when it comes to getting the vaccine. You don’t need an appointment; walk-ups are welcome.

The Valencia College West site has 3,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to give out daily, along with the second-dose follow-up appointments for people who’ve already received their initial dose of Pfizer at the site weeks earlier.

People who drove up to get a Johnson & Johnson shot or returned for their second Pfizer dose were turned around.

“We are coming far away from Cocoa Beach,” Victor Torres said. “It's so far away. Then we have to come here, and to not get the shot.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health in Orange County says their Convention Center vaccine site was not affected Sunday because it operates mostly in a covered parking garage loading dock and can continue during bad weather.

Seminole County’s main vaccine site is indoors at the Oviedo Mall, so a county spokesperson said weather didn't affect their operations. 

Administrators in Osceola and Brevard Counties say they plan on offering indoor vaccine availability in time for the rainy season. 

And in Marion County, a department of health spokesperson says they can move the outdoor portion of their operation inside if needed.