ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida saw it’s highest recorded amount of new cases for 2021 Thursday after the Florida Department of Health reported nearly 20,000 new cases of COVID-19.
As cases continue to climb Floridians are eager to receive a vaccine as soon as possible.
Vaccines continue to find their way into the arms of Floridians around the state. As more doses are set to expire, Gov. Ron DeSantis has called upon churches and other locations to start administering vaccines.
DeSantis announced changes to the state’s vaccine distribution plan on Monday, saying hospitals must use their shots as soon as possible and partnering with worship centers to help distribute the vaccine. The governor didn’t mention Publix during two news conference Monday but on Tuesday, DeSantis made the announcement from a Publix supermarket in Ocala.
According to Publix.com a limited number of vaccines are “on the way to select Publix pharmacies in Citrus, Hernando and Marion counties.”
According to the website, 11 Marion county locations, eight Hernando County stores and three Citrus County locations will offer the shots.
READ MORE: Select Publix pharmacy locations will offer coronavirus vaccine shots in Florida
DeSantis held multiple news conferences Thursday and said more vaccines are on the way.
The governor said that Florida is expected to get about 250,000 new COVID-19 vaccine doses next week that will be split roughly in half between Moderna and Pfizer shots.
[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports 17,000 new coronavirus cases, 130 new deaths]
Below is a breakdown of Florida COVID-19 data reported by the state on Jan. 7:
Cases
The Florida Department of Health reported 19,473 new cases on Thursday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,429,722 cases since March.
Deaths
Florida reported 170 new virus-related deaths Thursday. This means at least 22,817 people have died in relation to the coronavirus across the state, including 336 non-residents who died in Florida.
Hospitalizations
As of Thursday, there were currently 7,335 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
Since March, 64,704 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from the coronavirus. That number includes the 383 patients who have been recently hospitalized due to the virus, according to the health department’s daily report.
Positivity rate
The percent of positive results ranged from 8.03% to 23.28% over the past two weeks and was 11.60% Wednesday.
Health officials say the rate should remain between 5% and 10% to prove a community has a hold of the virus and is curbing infections.
Vaccinations
The Florida Department of Health recently began releasing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered throughout the state. As of Thursday afternoon, 384,223 people have been vaccinated in Florida.
See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:
| County | Cases | New cases | Hospitalizations | New hospitalizations | Deaths | New Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 23,103 | 434 | 1,503 | 20 | 535 | 9 |
| Flagler | 4,154 | 75 | 243 | 4 | 48 | 0 |
| Lake | 17,228 | 331 | 1,002 | 6 | 331 | 0 |
| Marion | 19,585 | 386 | 1,387 | 11 | 496 | 1 |
| Orange | 83,462 | 1,307 | 2,016 | 10 | 777 | 1 |
| Osceola | 27,569 | 456 | 1,110 | 7 | 305 | 8 |
| Polk | 40,983 | 622 | 3,403 | 14 | 821 | 7 |
| Seminole | 19,803 | 264 | 930 | 5 | 319 | 2 |
| Sumter | 5,720 | 86 | 392 | 4 | 122 | 0 |
| Volusia | 24,553 | 348 | 1,307 | 11 | 460 | 2 |
To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter and go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.