Orange County begins a new vaccine strategy after the state reports 1,656 new COVID-19 cases

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County began its new vaccination strategy on Monday by opening a vaccination site in Barber Park.

Officials said 1,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be given away every day for five days, Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. Appointments for the site can be made at ocfl.net/VaccineSites.

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This new strategy comes as the county wants to end the use of the Orange County Convention Center as a mass vaccination site. The convention center will offer its last first doses of the Pfizer vaccine on May 5 and, 21 days later, it will close on May 26, leaving the North Concourse just in time for recurring conventions and shows to withdraw.

At the same time, Florida is seeing an increase in new cases of COVID-19. The state reported 42,092 new cases last week, which is about an 11% increase from the previous week – when Florida had 37,864 new cases of the disease.

The number of new hospital admissions for the virus also increased by 1,221 last week, compared to 1,104 the week before. Despite those increases, however, the number of new deaths from COVID-19 has dropped significantly. 357 new deaths were reported last week, according to the state. That’s a decrease of nearly 30% from the week before, when 509 new deaths were reported.

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[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida sees 5,558 new COVID-19 cases as state prepares for another week of vaccinations ]

Find the state-run COVID-19 dashboard below:

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 1,656 new cases on Monday, bringing the state’s total total to 2,125,846 cases since the virus was first discovered on March 1, 2020.

Deaths

Florida reported 35 new virus-related deaths Monday, bringing the death toll to 34,720. This number includes the 664 nonresidents who died in Florida.

Hospital admissions

Monday afternoon, 3,184 people were currently hospitalized in Florida with the virus, according to the State Agency for Health Care Administration.

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Since last March 87,024 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. That number includes the 55 new Patients recently hospitalized for the virus, according to the daily health department report released Monday.

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results was 8% Sunday of the 20,705 to test. The numbers reported daily by the state reflect the previous day’s test results. Health officials say the rate should stay between 5% and 10% to prove that a community has a hold on the virus and keeps infections at bay.

Vaccinations

The Florida Department of Health began publishing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the state in December.

FDOH reports 4,447,965 people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These individuals either received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or completed a two-stage series.

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As of Sunday 7,291,420 people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Below is the Central Florida region’s breakdown of new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations for Monday.

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