ORLANDO, Fla. – This week, Seminole County vaccine slots took more than 24 hours to fill up, county leaders said.
Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris said the county opens its vaccine appointments on Tuesdays. He said this week marked the first time appointments were still available a day later.
Appointments were still available as of 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Harris said the appointments were all eventually taken. He called it a good sign that it took longer to fill the slots.
“We may be looking at encouraging the state to move into that next priority group,” Harris said.
Harris said the state’s current plan calls for law enforcement, 911 operators and essential workers to be vaccinated next. Harris said it’s unclear who qualifies as an essential worker.
To read more about Seminole County’s plan for vaccinating more people, click or tap here.
[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Central Florida vaccinations delayed, state reports 7,000 new COVID-19 cases]
Find the state-run COVID-19 dashboard below:
Below is a breakdown of Florida COVID-19 data reported by the state on Feb. 18.
Cases
The Florida Department of Health reported 5,073 new cases on Thursday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,849,744 cases since the virus was first detected on March 1.
Deaths
Florida reported 166 new virus-related deaths Thursday, raising the death toll to 29,990. This number includes the 516 non-residents who died in Florida.
Hospitalizations
As of Thursday afternoon, there were currently 4,368 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
Since March, 77,124 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. That number includes the 299 new patients who have been recently hospitalized due to the virus, according to the health department’s daily report released on Wednesday.
Positivity rate
The percent of positive results was 6.4% 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, 2,551,882 people have received at least the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. The FDOH also reports that 1,232,083 people have received their second shot.
See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:
| County | Cases | New cases | Hospitalizations | New hospitalizations | Deaths | New deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 32,555 | 110 | 1,941 | 5 | 714 | 4 |
| Flagler | 5,714 | 25 | 328 | 3 | 86 | 0 |
| Lake | 23,728 | 73 | 1,220 | 6 | 531 | 6 |
| Marion | 26,748 | 132 | 1,652 | 13 | 719 | 19 |
| Orange | 110,824 | 306 | 2,321 | 15 | 1,060 | 0 |
| Osceola | 35,753 | 64 | 1,245 | 6 | 416 | 2 |
| Polk | 55,269 | 211 | 4,226 | 17 | 1,094 | 7 |
| Seminole | 26,297 | 155 | 1,095 | 4 | 405 | 0 |
| Sumter | 7,688 | 20 | 489 | 5 | 224 | 0 |
| Volusia | 33,395 | 100 | 1,657 | 10 | 624 | 2 |
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