Vaccines

A federal judge will hear arguments Dec. 7 in Florida’s request for a preliminary injunction to block Biden administration efforts to require employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Governor Ron DeSantis has reached a deal with Republican leaders ahead of a special legislative session to ban vaccine mandates and the governor cited Leon County as an example of policies he wants to avoid.

Saying the state is trying to prevent “immediate irreparable harm,” Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office is seeking a preliminary injunction to block Biden administration efforts to require employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

As the delta variant of the coronavirus caused Florida to become a hotspot for COVID-19 in late July and August, the state’s nursing homes felt the brunt. Using federal data, the senior-advocacy group AARP released a report Wednesday.

The COVID-19 unit at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital is back open, and it’s as busy now as it was during the height of the pandemic.

About five months after shots began, more than 10 million people in Florida have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to a report released Sunday by the state Department of Health.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was recently vaccinated with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, said Tuesday that Florida would halt the vaccine’s use following a recommendation from federal health authorities.

As of April 5th, everyone age 18 and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine in Florida.

After focusing almost exclusively since December on vaccinating seniors, Gov. Ron DeSantis has cleared the way for more people under age 65 to receive shots if they are “extremely vulnerable” to COVID-19.

Florida A&M University has opened its COVID-19 vaccination site to the public. The site will run seven days a week, between 9 a.m. and noon. The Florida Division of Emergency Management and Leon County Health Department are staffing the facility. It is located at the Lawson Gymnasium at 1800 Wahnish Way.