:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/01-19-2021/t_d86b2dc17171440c89faeb1f235b03f5_name_image.jpg "City vaccines will close on Thursday when stocks dry up")
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Jacksonville will have to close two COVID-19 vaccines at the end of the day on Thursday if it does not receive more doses.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that the equipment will take up the vaccine supply by the end of the day on Thursday, and it is unclear when the sites may reopen.
“We are ready to open more sites, if – if important – if the supplies are available,” Curry said. ‘Please understand that the city of Jacksonville does not control the supply chain and what is available. While the state of Florida determines who receives their weekly award and how much, they do not even know how much they will earn on a week-to-week basis. ”
Curry said the 8,000 people who have already received their first dose at one of the two sites will still be able to get their second dose.
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Curry said the entire state received 275,000 units of the vaccine last week. The state is notified every seven days how many doses of vaccine Florida will receive next week, he added, and that number has changed each time.
Leon Haley, CEO of UF Health Jacksonville, said he faces the same issue.
“We’ll probably not have a vaccine this week either if we do not get a second round,” Haley said.
Between UF Health hospitals in Jacksonville and Gainesville, Haley said, about 35,000 health workers and patients received at least their first dose in the past month.
Haley said the city is still firmly in the midst of second-wave COVID-19 infections, but there have been encouraging signs recently.
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As of Tuesday, there were 510 COVID-19 patients in Jacksonville hospitals, 68 of whom were in a ventilator and 120 in intensive care units. On Monday, there were 536 patients.
“So the good news is that we’re starting to see a little bit of how hospitals and hospitalizations are going in the city,” Haley said. ‘The mayor mentions that the positivity rate in the city of Jacksonville is now at 8.4%. This is good, because it was 15% just as recently as two weeks ago. ”
Monday was the first time less than 10,000 cases have been reported in a day since December 28, when 8,198 cases were reported.
Curry said state-owned premises at the Prime Osborn Convention Center will continue to offer vaccinations, and that the state plans to begin administering vaccinations in the Regency Square Mall.
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