WLRN staff continues to add updates on testing and vaccination sites, executive orders and messages from government officials, and the latest news on COVID-19. You can find information on free food and food distributions here.
The dedicated website for the Florida Department of Health, including information about the numbers of cases, can be found here.
The dedicated website from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found here.
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QUICK UPDATES
Florida Adds More Than 5,000 New Cases, Approaches 2 Million All-Time Cases
Updated Thursday at 4:50 p.m.
Florida’s Department of Health confirmed an additional 5,093 positive cases of COVID-19 Thursday. The state has a total of 1,994,117 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.
Thursday update also included the announcement of 94 new resident deaths, increasing the statewide number of Floridians who died to 32,598. Factoring in non-resident deaths the number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 33,219.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties make up 10,876 of those reported deaths. Monroe County has reported 48 deaths due to COVID-19.
— WLRN News
More Pop-up Vaccine Sites Are Opening Across Broward County
Updated Thursday at 6:05 a.m
More of Broward’s cities are getting access to COVID-19 vaccines so residents can get their shots closer to home.
Tamarac expects to open a vaccine site Monday. Hollywood’s site will open March 29. And Lighthouse Point gets vaccines on April 5.
Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy said the details are still being finalized but he expects it to be at multiple locations, and it will be for any Florida resident.
— By Lisa J. Huriash / The South Florida Sun Sentinel
Read more from our news partner at The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
With Florida Requiring Doctor’s Note For Many, Pace Of COVID Vaccination Slows In Miami
Updated Thursday at 6:00 a.m
In Florida’s most populous county of Miami-Dade, the pace of COVID vaccination has slowed, with state-run mega-sites following a strict rule book enforced by armed police or other security officers at the entrance.
Throughout March, vaccine supply has increased but strict age minimums issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis have lingered, except for medically vulnerable people, who are required to have a physician to sign off to qualify for a shot.
Other documentation requirements have posed their own challenges. In the waning days of the federally supported pop-up vaccine site in North Miami Beach, one 86-year-old woman was turned away for not having the appropriate proof of Florida residency.
— By Ben Conarck and Devoun Cetoute / The Miami Herald
Read more from our news partner at The Miami Herald.
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Shipments Halted In Florida For Several Weeks, DeSantis Says
Updated Thursday at 5:52 a.m
If you are hunting for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Florida, you will be disappointed.
At a news conference Wednesday in Palm Harbor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state will not get a new shipment of the single-shot vaccine for several weeks.
“As we get more allocated for Johnson & Johnson we will let everyone know,” DeSantis said Wednesday. “If you’ve been waiting and you have an opportunity to get Pfizer or Moderna I’d recommend getting it because I can’t guarantee you J&J is going to be available in the next week or the week after. We are looking two or three weeks into the future where we don’t have J&J allocation.”
— By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The South Florida Sun Sentinel
Read more from our news partner at The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
