COVID vaccine second booster: Here’s who can get the 4th shot
Here’s what to know about the second COVID-19 booster shot and if you are eligible for it.
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Florida hospitals reported a record low number of COVID-positive adult patients in intensive care units this week as another coronavirus wave forms, in line with experts’ expectations.
ICU staff tended to an average of 96 patients each day this week, data collected Friday by the U.S. Health and Human Services shows. That’s the lowest seven-day average the federal agency has logged since record keeping began in July 2020.
Other medical staff tended to an average of 681 total COVID-positive patients each day, also the lowest level on record.
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Florida Health Department officials logged an average of 10,674 new cases each week since publishing their last pandemic report March 25. That’s the first time new weekly cases have been on the rise since the week ending Nov. 26.
The latest wave of infections is being fueled by the so-called “stealth omicron” subvariant of the coronavirus, officially known as BA.2. It has been found in an estimated 68% to 76% of COVID tests that detect variants, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported April 2.
Scientists expect upswing from BA.2, but not a severe surge
Scientists and medical experts have said that while they expect another spate of infections driven by BA.2, it should prove less severe than past versions of the virus because most people have been vaccinated or infected by the main omicron strain.
Hospitalizations have yet to surpass their March 25 levels even as cases rise.
Florida’s Health Department has logged 5,862,817 COVID-19 infections in residents since the start of the pandemic.
About 3.8% of COVID-19 tests statewide came back positive during the past week, the state Health Department reported Friday. That’s 1.5 percentage points higher than the level logged two weeks prior.
COVID-19 deaths in Florida down to pre-omicron lows
Some places are experiencing bigger spikes in positivity. Six percent of Palm Beach County tests came back positive, nearly double the 3.1% during the week ending March 25.
New COVID-19 deaths statewide have nearly subsided to pre-omicron lows.
The state logged an average of 256 deaths a week since March 25, the lowest estimated weekly level since Jan. 7, before the surge of omicron deaths. Fatalities can take weeks to be processed and enter official statistics.
Florida’s coronavirus death toll stood Friday at 73,538 residents.
The state added just 10,825 new vaccinations a week, on average, since March 25, the lowest estimated weekly increase since shots started rolling out.
How safe are Floridians from COVID?: State overcounts vaccinations by 600,000 people
Florida has logged record low weekly increases in vaccinations since Feb. 11, as the omicron wave receded.
State health officials claim 15,474,298 residents have received at least one shot. But that number is inflated by at least 600,000 because vaccine providers have erroneously classified out-of-staters as Floridians when they log new shots in a state database.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and state health officials have no plans to investigate or fix this statistical error.
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Chris Persaud is The Palm Beach Post’s data reporter. Email him at cpersaud@pbpost.com.