Florida reports 5,425 new COVID-19 cases as first doses wrap up at Orange County Convention Center

ORLANDO, Fla. – As the Orange County Convention Center winds down its operations to close at the end of May, the vaccination site offered its last first doses Saturday.

Starting Monday, only second doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be offered. Once the site shuts down, two smaller sites will open in different locations in the county and offer about 2,000 doses a day. The county has not yet announced where the locations will be.

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The convention center site has been vaccinating thousands per day since the end of December and currently is giving out more than 4,000 shots a day. The site has now vaccinated more than 200,000 people.

Saturday also marked the first day of a new Orange County vaccination site. Barnett Park, which previously served as a testing site, is now offering the Pfizer vaccine without requiring appointments. This site will offer 750 vaccinations a day, each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The UCF Lake Nona Medical Center will be offering first doses of the Moderna vaccine two days next week to the Lake Nona community and those in Orange and Osceola counties. Pre-registration is required and appointments for the second doses are being offering on two days in June. Click here for more information.

With more people being vaccinated, Florida’s surgeon general signed an advisory stating vaccinated people do not need to wear a face mask.

“Fully vaccinated individuals should no longer be advised to wear facial coverings or avoid social and recreational gatherings except in limited circumstances,” the advisory from Dr. Scott Rivkees says.

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida expands vaccine eligibility as state sees 5,311 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 May 1.

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 5,425 new cases on Saturday, bringing the state’s overall total to 2,238,937 cases since the virus was first detected on March 1, 2020.

Deaths

Florida reported 79 new virus-related deaths Saturday, bringing the death toll to 35,937. This number included the 698 non-residents who died in Florida.

Hospitalizations

As of Saturday afternoon, there were currently 3,085 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

Since last March, 90,746 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. That number includes the 257 new patients who have been recently hospitalized due to the virus, according to the health department’s daily report released on Saturday.

Positivity rate

The percent of positive results was 5.7% Friday out of 95,253 tests. The numbers reported daily by the state reflect test results from the day prior. 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 began releasing a daily report in December 2020 on COVID-19 vaccines administered throughout the state.

FDOH reports 6,280,675 people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These individuals either received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or completed a two-shot series.

As of Saturday, 8,865,300 people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

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

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