In accordance with the State of Florida COVID-19 vaccine plan, firefighters and EMTs/Paramedics began receiving the vaccine Wednesday morning. Cape Coral Fire Chief Ryan Lamb received the vaccine from Lee County Public Safety Director Ben Abes. Photo courtesy of the Cape Coral Fire Department

Editor’s Note; This story has been updated to reflect information released Wednesday.

The first COVID-19 vaccines to arrive at Lee Health facilities were administered Tuesday afternoon at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers.

Registered Nurse Samara Marin, Transportation Services’ Henry Jackson, and Dr. Stephanie Stovall of Pediatric Infection Prevention were the first to receive the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

“We are ready,” President and CEO of Lee Health Dr. Larry Antonucci said in a prepared statement. “Lee Health has followed guidelines from the CDC and the State of Florida to establish our vaccination plan. This vaccine provides hope that we can soon put an end to this long, arduous journey. I am so proud of our frontline workers. Throughout this pandemic, they never wavered in their commitment to provide safe, compassionate care to our patients.”

According to Lee Health officials, to ensure a safe and effective rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, it is being administered at Gulf Coast Medical Center and Cape Coral Hospital where the health system has deployed deep freezers to keep the vaccine at the appropriate temperatures. Vaccination of health care workers and patients in Lee Health’s three skilled nursing facilities began Tuesday as well.

Officials said supplies would be limited at first due to the demand for the vaccine. Currently, there is no official timetable on when the public will be able to receive the vaccination according to Lee Health. Upon availability, the system will begin to schedule appointments for those who wish to be vaccinated. Lee Health said they will have more information to share in the coming weeks.

“While we wait for the vaccine to become widely available in our community, we ask that residents and visitors continue to practice physical distancing, wear a mask in public and wash their hands often,” said Dr. Alex Daneshmand, chief quality and patient safety officer at Lee Health in a statement. “Until we reach herd immunity and the CDC changes its guidance on wearing PPE (personal protective equipment), Lee Health staff will continue to wear the appropriate level of PPE even after they are vaccinated.”

In accordance with the State of Florida COVID-19 vaccine plan, firefighters and EMTs/Paramedics began receiving the vaccine Wednesday morning, including Cape Coral Fire Department Chief Ryan Lamb.

By the Numbers

As of Wednesday afternoon, there are 1,234,399 total cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Florida, an increase of 11,384 since FDOH’s last update Tuesday.

Test results reported to the Department of Health on Tuesday, Dec. 22 resulted in a 8.62 positivity rate. Positivity rates in new cases have topped 7% for 26 consecutive days. The percentage of positivity rates in new cases has been over 5% since Oct. 29.

The state saw its highest daily percentage of positive patients July 8, when 18.50 percent of tests reported were positive among 51,686 tests.

Of those testing positive, 60,800 Florida residents have been hospitalized at some point during their illness according to the state.

The death toll increased by 121 from Tuesday’s report, bringing the total number of deaths, both resident and non-resident, to 21,173.

According to the state, hospitalizations in Lee County, and statewide in Florida, make up 5 percent of all positive cases. Deaths statewide and in Lee County stand at 2% of positive cases.

On Dec. 22, 11,166 people were given the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine throughout the state according to FDOH. The total number vaccinated as of Wednesday throughout Florida was 68,133.

In Lee County, 37,909 individuals (+402) have tested positive as of Wednesday’s update.

Positive COVID-19 cases in the county have ranged from infants to a 103-year-old. Lee County saw its first two cases on March 7, when a man and a woman, each 77, tested positive. They had traveled to the Dominican Republic.

There have been 645 deaths in Lee County, an increase of two from Tuesday’s report.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Lee Health had 145 COVID-19 patients isolated in system inpatient hospitals, including 21 new admissions and 23 discharges since Monday’s report.

A total of 3,879 patients who had tested positive have been discharged since the beginning of the pandemic.

On Monday, Lee Health had a 26.2% positivity rate on COVID-19 tests processed through Lee Health Labs. This represents Lee Health results only, not Lee County as a whole. Hospital positivity rates tend to be higher as the tests are performed on patients seeking treatment for a health issue, not the general public that includes asymptomatic individuals.

Census as of Tuesday afternoon was at 85% of staffed operational bed capacity, with 11.6% of those being COVID-19 patients. Staffed operational capacity reflects the number of beds for which the hospital has adequate staffing, not the total number of beds within Lee Health hospitals. Overall bed capacity fluctuates hour to hour as the system discharges patients throughout the day who are ready to go home.

As of Tuesday, 79% of ventilators and 28% of ICU rooms are available for use across Lee Health facilities.

As of Tuesday, there were nine COVID-19 patients on ventilators and 25 in the intensive care unit.

COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral disease. For most individuals, symptoms are mild. For a minority, the disease becomes a type of viral pneumonia with severe complications. Especially at risk are those who are older, those with underlying health conditions and the immune-compromised.

Officials strongly urge all members of the public who are at risk to remain at home so as to limit exposure. All others are urged to observe social distancing and to wear a mask for all public interactions.

For more details on Florida resident cases, visit the live DOH Dashboard.

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, visit the Department of Health’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control, visit the CDC COVID-19 website. For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, visit the travel advisory website.

For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, contact the Department’s dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.

— Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj