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Average daily cases decline as vaccinations tick up
Matthew Peddie, WMFE
Florida added 10,385 new COVID-19 cases, according to figures released Tuesday.
New daily case numbers have ranged from 14,685 to 5,609 over the last 14 days.
The daily average of new cases has fallen since the start of the year.
Florida is averaging 9,848 new cases per day in the last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University analyzed by NPR.
That’s a 13% decrease over the week prior, and a 24% decrease from two weeks ago.
As of Tuesday morning, 6,022 patients were in the hospital statewide with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19.
In total, more than 1.7 million Floridians have gotten COVID-19, and 26,822 have died.
Some 372,207 people have completed a full series of the vaccine and 1,375,554 have received the first dose of vaccine.
Thousands of healthcare workers to be offered vaccine
Thousands of Orange County health care workers will be offered the coronavirus vaccine this weekend. Dr. Scott Brady with AdventHealth said there are more than 3,000 doses available.
“This vaccine is for all healthcare workers in our community, not just AdventHealth healthcare workers," said Dr. Brady.
"So if you are any health care worker, and you have direct patient contact this day is for you.”
Health care workers can sign up on the Orange County government website for the event. Vaccines will be administered Saturday at AdventHealth’s site near Orlando International Airport. So far about five percent of the county’s population, more than 84,000 people, have received the first dose of a vaccine.
Vaccines to be made available to county jail inmates- once supplies increase
Orange County mayor Jerry Demings said once more coronavirus vaccines become available it will be distributed more widely, including to at-risk inmates in the county jail.
Advocates for the incarcerated, including the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, have been pushing for vulnerable populations in prisons and in jails to get access to the vaccine.
Demings says most of the Orange County jail inmates are not there for long.
“Maybe 20% or so of the jail population is there on felony charges and stay for longer periods of time, but the overwhelming majority of the individuals are in and out," said Demings.
"So it may or may not be the most effective way to disseminate the vaccine. But if we had greater supply, we would.”
Demings said vaccine inventory is controlled at the state level, not by the county. He said his biggest concern around vaccination disparity is that fewer people of color are being vaccinated.
"I've looked at the data Dr. Pino has shared, and we know we need to do some catching up there."