VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County hospitals are set to receive the COVID-19 vaccines next week.
The hospitals will begin by distributing doses to their front-line workers at the highest risk of getting infected.
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Right now, Halifax Health Medical Center says it’s in good shape with supplies and room in its intensive care unit.
“Our protective gear is good. Our staffing is good, and we are doing well,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Margaret Crossman says.
However, health officials are worried about a recent surge in cases heading into the Christmas holiday.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 500 people have been treated at Halifax Health Medical Center. It currently has about 20 COVID-19 patients in its ICU, about half of what it saw during the July Peak when that number hit 42.
The hospital expects to get the Moderna Vaccine sometime next week, and the Pfizer vaccine shortly after that. Hospital officials did not say how many doses they expect to receive.
“Fortunately we have treatments that are improved,” Dr. Crossman says. “The dexamethasone has remained one of the better break-throughs as far as therapeutics for hospitalized patients.”
County health officials are seeing a rise in daily COVID numbers it says matches what it saw during the July peak.
“We have not seen daily numbers like this since the summer high surge,” says Holly Smith with the Florida Department of Health. “Hospitalizations are also increasing, along with the number of deaths.”
The health department says some of those new cases were people infected by family and friends at Thanksgiving parties.
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“They thought everyone attending was being careful, and that everyone attending was being tested before they came, yet they were still infected,” Smith says.
Advent Health is also getting the vaccine and plans to start distributing to staff and workers at its Daytona Beach campus starting Monday.