Orange County begins new vaccination strategy as state reports 1,656 new cases of COVID-19

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

Officials said 1,000 doses a day of the Pfizer vaccine would be given every day for five days, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Appointments for the site can be made at ocfl.net/VaccineSites.

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This new strategy comes as the county aims to end the use of the Orange County Convention Center as a place for mass vaccination. The convention center offers its latest doses of Pfizer vaccine on May 5 and, 21 days later, will close on May 26, moving out of the North Concourse just in time for the return of conventions and shows to move back.

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

New hospitalizations with the virus also increased by 1,221 last week, compared to 1,104 the previous week. However, despite these increases, the number of new deaths caused by COVID-19 has decreased significantly. According to the state, 357 new deaths were reported last week. This is a decrease of almost 30% compared to the previous week, 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 Monday, bringing the total state to 2,125,846 cases since the virus was first detected on 1 March 2020.

deaths

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

hospitalization

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

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Since March last year, 87,024 people were hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. This number includes 55 new patients who were recently hospitalized because of the virus, according to the health department’s daily report released Monday.

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results was 8% Sunday from 20,705 tests. The numbers reported daily by the state reflect the results of the previous day’s tests. Health officials say the rate should remain between 5% and 10% to prove that a community has control over the virus and fights infections.

Vaccinations

The Florida Department of Health began launching a daily report in December on statewide COVID-19 vaccines.

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

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

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

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