With J&J doses on hold, vaccination sites adapt as Florida reports 9,130 new COVID-19 cases

ORLANDO, Fla. – Central Florida vaccine sites were sent scrambling Tuesday after the Food and Drug Administration put a hold on the use of Johnson & Johnson vaccines due to six reports of a rare blood clot in patients who received the single-dose shot.

Orlando’s federally-supported vaccine site at Valencia College was reduced to handing out second doses only Tuesday after the news. The site recently switched to giving out the single-dose shots.

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It’s unclear how much the lack of a third vaccine will slow up efforts to vaccinate Americans but sites around Florida and the country are halting distributing the shots Tuesday with the recommendations from federal health agencies.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said in a statement J&J vaccines will not have a significant impact on the vaccine plan as the shots make up less than 5% of recorded shots in the U.S.

Zients said the U.S. has more than 25 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna each week and that will increase to 38 million.

“This is more than enough supply to continue the current pace of vaccinations of 3 million shots per day, and meet the President’s goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office—and continue on to reach every adult who wants to be vaccinated,” Zients continued in his statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA put a “pause” on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccinations in the U.S. following reports of six women developing rare and severe types of blood clots after receiving the single-dose vaccine.

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects. All six women are 18 to 48 years old. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Orange County begins new vaccine strategy as state reports 1,656 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 April 13.

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 9,130 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the state’s overall total to 2,134,914 cases since the virus was first detected on March 1, 2020.

Deaths

Florida reported 64 new virus-related deaths Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 34,784. This number includes the 664 non-residents who died in Florida.

Hospitalizations

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were currently 3,257 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

Since last March, 87,287 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. That number includes the 263 new patients who have been recently hospitalized due to the virus, according to the health department’s daily report released on Tuesday.

Positivity rate

The percent of positive results was 8.16% Monday out of 111,942 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 4,565,915 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 Tuesday, 7,449,475 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 Tuesday.

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