Ryan Nicol
South Florida’s tri-county area is inching closer to the 750,000 mark in terms of total COVID-19 vaccinations completed. The region will almost surely hit that benchmark this weekend.
As of Friday’s daily Department of Health report, more than 747,000 people across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. That’s up about 15,000 from Thursday’s report, putting the region on pace to cross 750,000 inoculations by Saturday.
South Florida hit the 2 million dose mark Thursday. In Palm Beach County, 53% of individuals ages 65 and over are fully vaccinated. That number as of Friday sits at 48% in Broward County and 43% in Miami-Dade County.
Starting Monday, the state will open vaccine availability to individuals ages 50 and over, after demand in the 60-64 demographic was relatively low.
South Florida recorded more than 2,300 new COVID-19 cases Friday, though the case positivity rate in the region remained low. After Miami-Dade saw a one-day spike in that metric to more than 9% in Thursday’s report, the number dipped back below 6% Friday. That would seem to show Thursday’s spike was a one-day blip, though additional data throughout the weekend can add some more clarity.
The tri-county area also recorded just 15 newly-reported deaths in Friday’s report. That’s tied for the second-lowest one-day mark in the region since Jan. 5. Deaths in Broward County have been cut in half week-to-week. That number is down by nearly 27% in Miami-Dade County, but slightly up in Palm Beach County.
Despite some recent spikes in the region, there are signs the COVID-19 death toll is beginning to stabilize at a lower rate. That comes nearly two months after South Florida began its post-holiday surge. Though case counts have been dropping since February, the death toll had yet to consistently follow.
Here are some of the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:
Miami-Dade
— Feb. 26-March 4: 39 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 19 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,276 new confirmed cases per day, 6.2% positivity rate, 15,234 vaccine doses administered per day, 3,934 vaccinations completed per day
— March 5-11: 38 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 15 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,067 new confirmed cases per day, 5.7% positivity rate, 18,204 vaccine doses administered per day, 5,032 vaccinations completed per day
— March 12-18: 28 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 11 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,189 new confirmed cases per day, 6.5% positivity rate, 17,465 vaccine doses administered per day, 5,883 vaccinations completed per day
Broward
— Feb. 26-March 4: 24 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 10 newly-reported deaths per day, 679 new confirmed cases per day, 6.4% positivity rate, 9,413 vaccine doses administered per day, 3,197 vaccinations completed per day
— March 5-11: 22 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 14 newly-reported deaths per day, 604 new confirmed cases per day, 6.1% positivity rate, 11,182 vaccine doses administered per day, 3,384 vaccinations completed per day
— March 12-18: 15 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 611 new confirmed cases per day, 6% positivity rate, 10,627 vaccine doses administered per day, 3,932 vaccinations completed per day
Palm Beach
— Feb. 26-March 4: 14 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 8 newly-reported deaths per day, 387 new confirmed cases per day, 5.9% positivity rate, 7,387 vaccine doses administered per day, 3,683 vaccinations completed per day
— March 5-11: 13 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 338 new confirmed cases per day, 5.3% positivity rate, 8,611 vaccine doses administered per day, 4,075 vaccinations completed per day
— March 12-18: 13 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 341 new confirmed cases per day, 5.5% positivity rate, 7,285 vaccine doses administered per day, 3,661 vaccinations completed per day
