© 2024 Central Florida Public Media. All Rights Reserved.
90.7 FM Orlando • 89.5 FM Ocala
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

AdventHealth Doctors Warn When It Comes to COVID-19, "This is a Marathon"

Photo: Jakayla Toney
Photo: Jakayla Toney

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are down in Florida this week, but AdventHealth doctors say this decrease can’t be linked to COVID-19 vaccinations yet. 

Hospitalizations for coronavirus have dropped by five percent in Florida compared with last week. 

But AdventHealth’s Dr. Vincent Hsu says not enough people have been vaccinated in the state for this decrease to have been caused by herd immunity. 

“You know we have not vaccinated enough people at this time to generate that kind of response. In Florida, we’ve vaccinated about 1.1 million in the state so far. There's 22 million residents in the state of Florida.”

[audio wav="https://www.wmfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/HSU-clip-one-.wav"][/audio]

Hsu says AdventHealth has exhausted its supply of COVID-19 vaccines after distributing some 37,000 shots to staff and people 65 and older.  They're currently waiting for a refill. 

“We are waiting to hear from the state when that is going to occur. But right now we don’t have any specific dates as to when we're going to receive our next shipment."

[audio wav="https://www.wmfe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/HSU-clip-two-.wav"][/audio]

In an interview yesterday, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees said Florida with its high population of seniors should be prioritized ahead of other states to get the shots. 

Danielle Prieur covers education in Central Florida.