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Larry Antonucci, CEO of Lee Health
Full approval by the Food and Drug Administration of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine issued on Monday for those aged 16 and over was good news for Lee Health. The healthcare organization is near full capacity for its hospitals, with new records set every week for admitting COVID-19 patients.
Lee Health announced FDA approval of the vaccine on Monday, saying in a press release that “all COVID-19 vaccines available today have undergone rigorous evaluation through clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people. They have all been proven to be safe and effective.
“We really hope that this full approval encourages anyone who is about to get their COVID-19 vaccine to do so as soon as possible. “
The hospital eclipsed 600 COVID-19 patients over the weekend, breaking records set earlier in the week. The Delta variant circulated throughout the region, making Lee County an area considered by the Centers for Disease Control to be a center of high transmission of the coronavirus.
There have been more than 95,000 cases of the coronavirus in Lee County since the start of the pandemic.
More than 800 people have died from COVID-19 in Lee Health hospitals and more than 1,000 have died in Lee County from the coronavirus.
Due to increased demand for the COVID-19 vaccine, Lee Health is extending the hours of operation of its vaccination clinic. Starting this week, the Lee Health Community Immunization Clinic, located at Gulf Coast Medical Center, will now be open Wednesdays, as well as Tuesdays and Fridays, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Those eligible for the third booster dose can also come to the clinic to be vaccinated.
“Vaccination is the best defense against COVID-19, in particular the highly contagious Delta variant which is currently circulating in our region”, Lee Health said Monday. “If you are not fully immunized, your risk of hospitalization and serious illness is higher with this variant.”
The COVID-19 vaccine is free. The Lee Health vaccination clinic is accessible without an appointment or you can make an appointment at www.leehealth.org.
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