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ORLANDO, Florida – Florida health officials are calling on local leaders to provide vaccines to Florida residents first, including snowbirds. The move comes as the state faces a vaccine shortage.
Florida’s senior health official on Thursday advised his state’s counties to prioritize doses available to residents, including those residing in the state part-time.
In a two-page notice signed by Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, the state health department noted that “the vaccine remains rare in the United States, and vaccine availability in Florida is extremely limited.”
As a result, Rivkees issued a public health advisory that orders “the prioritization of Floridians for the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida.”
This means that vaccine suppliers must first verify whether the vaccine recipient is a permanent or seasonal resident by providing a driver’s license or a host of other documents, including rental leases and utility bills, as reported by the state health department.
Florida was one of the first to open vaccine eligibility to members of the general public over the age of 65.
To find out if you are eligible for a vaccine in Florida, click or tap here.
The updated resident policy comes as Florida begins to roll out a statewide vaccine appointment system.
[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports 12,000 new cases of COVID-19 as more Floridians wait for vaccine]
Case
Florida Department of Health reported 13,435 new cases on Friday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,627,603 cases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March.
Death
Florida reported 277 new virus-related deaths on Friday, bringing the death toll to 25,405. That number includes the 394 non-residents who died in Florida.
Hospitalizations
Friday afternoon, there was currently 6,904 people with the virus have been hospitalized in Florida, according to the National Agency for Health Care Administration.
As of March, 69,735 of people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. This number includes the 453 new patients recently hospitalized with the virus, according to the health department’s daily report released on Friday.
Positivity rate
The percentage of positive results was 12.37% for the 108,594 tests reported Thursday.
Health officials say the rate should stay between 5% and 10% to prove that a community has a grip on the virus and is curbing infections.
Vaccinations
The Florida Department of Health recently began publishing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered statewide.
As of Friday, 1,249,804 people had been vaccinated in Florida. FDOH also reports that 139,345 people received their second injection.
[Register for the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida here]
| County | Case | New cases | Hospitalizations | New hospitalizations | Death | New deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 27 245 | 270 | 1,685 | 16 | 603 | 8 |
| Flagler | 4,905 | 58 | 281 | 2 | 61 | 1 |
| Lake | 20,296 | 168 | 1,087 | 5 | 392 | -1 |
| Marion | 23,050 | 203 | 1,489 | ten | 560 | 2 |
| Orange | 96,848 | 678 | 2 149 | 16 | 893 | 36 |
| Osceola | 31,734 | 236 | 1 165 | 2 | 333 | 1 |
| Polk | 47,254 | 399 | 3,665 | 21 | 920 | 6 |
| Seminole | 22,757 | 183 | 1,003 | 13 | 353 | seven |
| Sumter | 6 646 | 41 | 433 | 1 | 170 | 0 |
| Volusia | 28,850 | 561 | 1,439 | 19 | 492 | seven |
To stay up to date with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6 coronavirus newsletter and go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.
Copyright 2021 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
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