Florida adds 200+ COVID-19 deaths, 11K cases in past week

After reporting a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases following the state’s vaccine rollout, Florida reported a small uptick in cases and deaths this past week, according to the Department of Health’s weekly report released Friday.

The newly released data, which recorded the state’s COVID-19 numbers from June 18 through June 24, added 217 deaths to the state’s total death count, amounting to 37,772 virus-related deaths in Florida since the start of the pandemic.

The report also counted 11,048 new cases of COVID-19 in its total case tally, which now stands at 2,321,929. This is up from the week prior, which only recorded 10,512 new cases of COVID-19.

However, the weekly numbers are still far lower than they were a couple months ago, where the state was reporting about triple the number of cases a week. According to the report, 23,307 cases were reported in the first week of May, down from the 39,049 cases reported the second week of April.

Floridians are also slowing down on vaccines.

In the past week, 281,042 doses were distributed in the state. That’s down from the 413,018 doses administered the week prior, and way down from the 777,741 doses distributed in the first week of May.

However, a recent report showed that more than a million Floridians are overdue on their booster shot, which, depending on the vaccine, recommends a second vaccination in 21 or 28 days following the first.

Waiting beyond the recommended time frame for a second dose does not mean one cannot still receive a booster shot and become fully vaccinated. According to the CDC, the booster may be administered up to six weeks, or 42 days, after the initial dose.

As far as how effective the first shot is, it varies. Even though the overall efficacy rate after one dose was 80% in trials, it won’t be as protective for older people or people with weakened immune systems, according to an NPR report. And that’s not good news, according to Florida’s data, which show that the state’s oldest vaccine recipients are the most likely to be overdue for a second shot.

Kids are getting vaccinated, though. The report shows that 57% of people ages 12 and older had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.