Florida COVID update: 17% vaccine-boosted and hospitalizations little changed

David J. Neal
·2 min read
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Cars line up for free COVID-19 testing at Miami-Dade College’s North campus Friday afternoon, Dec. 17, 2021.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report on Sunday showed 1,511 COVID-19 patients listed from 262 Florida hospitals, three fewer patients than in Saturday’s report from the same number of hospitals.

In Sunday’s report, COVID-19 patients occupied 2.6% of 57,945 inpatient beds in those hospitals, compared with 2.6% of 59,140 inpatient beds in the previous day’s reporting hospitals.

Of the people hospitalized in Florida, 291 people were in intensive care units, a decrease of eight from the previous day’s report. That represents 4.7% of the ICU beds at the 262 hospitals reporting data, compared to 4.8% of those reporting Saturday.

This number is based on 262 hospitals reporting 291 ICU beds in use for COVID-19 patients and 6,219 total ICU beds.

Sunday’s Miami-Dade County report said there were 236 COVID patients in the county’s hospitals on Saturday, an increase of 20 from the previous day’s report. Of the 56 new COVID patients, 16 (29.6%) had been vaccinated and one (1.8%) had received a vaccine booster. Intensive care patients numbered 33, a rise of one from the previous day.

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FLORIDA COVID VACCINE RATES

About 13,496,245 eligible Floridians — 63% of the state’s population — had completed the two-dose series of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or have received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 3,780,848 — 28% of the fully vaccinated and about 17.6% of the population — have received a booster shot.

VACCINATIONS IN SOUTH FLORIDA AND MANATEE COUNTY

The CDC reported that South Florida’s counties have a “high” level of community transmission and Manatee County has a “substantial” level.

Here’s how many people have been fully vaccinated in South Florida, according to the CDC.

▪ In Miami-Dade County, about 2,166,535 people, or 79.7% of the county’s total population, are fully vaccinated.

▪ In Broward County, about 1,309,886 people are fully vaccinated, or 67.1% of the county’s population.

▪ In Palm Beach County, about 940,855 people are fully vaccinated, or 62.9% of the county’s population.

▪ In Monroe County, about 54,994 people are fully vaccinated, or 74.1% of the county’s population.

▪ In Manatee County, about 236,115 people are fully vaccinated, or 58.6% of the county’s population.

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