Ottawa snowbirds win vaccination 'lottery'
Jim and Marie Morrisey taking advantage of Florida's offer to anyone 65 and over
A couple of snowbirds from Ottawa say they feel like they've won the lottery after booking a COVID-19 vaccination at a Florida pharmacy.
Marie and Jim Morrisey spend up to six months a year at their lakeside condo in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., near Sarasota on the Gulf Coast.
When the Morriseys were still in Ottawa, they heard Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis include Canadian snowbirds in a statewide plan to vaccinate everyone 65 and over.
"It was an invitation that we were happy to accept," said 66-year-old Marie, a retired nurse.
"Since we're part of the community here, it's important for us to be vaccinated as much as Floridians are."
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But getting an appointment proved an enormous challenge.
"Oh my God, an appointment down here is like a lottery," Marie said. "They open up websites at a certain time ... and everybody who is over 65 ... then goes online and tries to get an appointment. So they fill up super quickly."
The Morriseys got word that a new tranche of appointments was to be offered up at midnight on Jan. 6.
"Jim kept waking up every hour, hour and a half, and checking the site. At 6 [a.m.] the site was open," Marie said.
And then it happened: the pandemic equivalent of the golden ticket.
"[We're] ecstatic. The adrenaline is going crazy because I had spent the last five days on the computer being perpetually disappointed. I'd be refreshing the page every second. I had our internet speed upgraded ... last week for this purpose," said Jim Morrisey, 67, a retired chartered accountant.
"I'm still shaking from the adrenaline."
They ended up with an appointment Friday at a Publix pharmacy north of Tampa Bay.
"It's about a two-hour drive for us, which is no big deal. We would have gone anywhere," said Marie, who added though the shot is free, they'd have been happy to pay.
Booked spots for friends
She said while they were on the website, the couple realized they could book additional appointments.
"We were calling our friends saying, 'We're in a site where we're able to make appointments, would you like us to make one for you?' And they said, 'Yes, absolutely!'"
In all, they booked 10 appointments including four for Canadian friends who had put off their own plans to travel south because they hadn't been vaccinated.
"We told them that we had made an appointment for them, and so because of that they will be coming down," Marie said.
In Ontario, vaccinations are being offered first to front-line health-care workers, employees and residents of long-term care homes, and their immediate supports.
In Florida, it also includes people over age 65.
"DeSantis said, 'Why do I want to give it to a 22-year-old grocery worker who is not going to get severely ill, compared to a 65-plus person who could die?' So he's chosen a different priority group," Jim said.
"There are different approaches. Time will tell who had the right approach."
Even after they get their jabs, the Morriseys say they'll avoid indoor spaces, except for masked trips to the grocery store.
"Until the all-clear is given, we're not changing our behaviour one bit," Jim said.
WATCH | How they feel getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Florida:
Florida, with a population of 21 million, had more than 17,000 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 6 alone. The previous day, there were just over 7,000 new cases reported across all of Canada.
But in Florida, Jim said they can avoid close contact with others in their walk-up condo.
"Our home in Ottawa is on the 31st floor of a highrise, and every time you go out you ride elevators with people. Our exposure is high there," he said.
The Morriseys are fully aware of the Canadian government's recommendation against non-essential travel, but they weighed the risks and benefits and decided to return to their winter home.
Now they're getting vaccinated before most Canadians their age.
"It wasn't a choice made to flout the advice from Canada," Jim said.
"We appreciate all the efforts the government is doing. We think they're doing the right thing. We just chose something which we thought would actually be better for our health."
