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ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida saw the highest number of new cases recorded by Thursday 2021 after the Florida Department of Health reported nearly 20,000 new cases of COVID-19.
As cases continue to rise, Floridians are eager to receive a vaccine as soon as possible.
Vaccines continue to be found in the arms of Floridians across the state. As more doses are expired, Gov. Ron DeSantis has called on churches and other places to start administering vaccines.
DeSantis on Monday announced changes to the state’s vaccine distribution plan, saying hospitals should use their shots as soon as possible and collaborating with worship centers to help distribute the vaccine. The governor did not mention Publix during two press conferences on Monday, but on Tuesday DeSantis made the announcement from a Publix supermarket in Ocala.
According to Publix.com, there are a limited number of vaccines “on the way to select Publix pharmacies in Citrus, Hernando and Marion counties.”
According to the website, 11 locations in Marion County, eight stores in Hernando County and three locations in Citrus County will offer the photos.
READ MORE: Select locations from Publix pharmacies will offer coronavirus vaccines in Florida
DeSantis held several press conferences on Thursday and said there are more vaccines on the way.
The governor said Florida is expected to get about 250,000 new doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week that will be split about in half between Moderna and Pfizer shots.
[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports 17,000 new coronavirus cases, 130 new deaths]
Cases
The Florida Department of Health reported 19,473 new cases on Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 1,429,722 cases since March.
Deaths
Florida reported 170 new virus-related deaths on Thursday. This means that at least 22,817 people have died in connection with the coronavirus statewide, inclusive 336 non-residents who died in Florida.
Hospitalizations
As of Thursday, there were currently 7,335 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state agency for health care administration.
Since March, 64,704 people have been hospitalized in Florida after coronavirus complications. This number includes 383 patients who have recently been hospitalized because of the virus, according to the health department’s daily report.
Positivity rate
The percentage of positive results ranged from 8.03% to 23.28% in the last two weeks and was 11.60% on Wednesday.
Health officials say the rate should be kept between 5% and 10% to show that a community has the virus and is curbing infections.
Vaccines
Recently, the Florida Department of Health began publishing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered statewide. As of Thursday afternoon, 384,223 people have been vaccinated in Florida.
See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:
| county | Cases | New cases | Hospitalizations | New hospitalizations | Deaths | New deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 23.103 | 434 | 1,503 | 20 | 535 | 9 |
| Flagler | 4,154 | 75 | 243 | 4 | 48 | 0 |
| lake | 17,228 | 331 | 1,002 | 6 | 331 | 0 |
| Marion | 19,585 | 386 | 1,387 | 11 | 496 | 1 |
| orange | 83,462 | 1,307 | 2016 | 10 | 777 | 1 |
| Osceola | 27,569 | 456 | 1.110 | 7 | 305 | 8 |
| Polk | 40,983 | 622 | 3,403 | 14 | 821 | 7 |
| Seminol | 19,803 | 264 | 930 | 5 | 319 | 2 |
| Sumter | 5,720 | 86 | 392 | 4 | 122 | 0 |
| Volusia | 24,553 | 348 | 1,307 | 11 | 460 | 2 |
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