Escambia County COVID-19 Update #308

Updated at  3 p.m. March 30:

For prior updates, visit myescambia.com/news#coronavirus.

Vaccination Information:

• Ascension Sacred Heart-      

  As the State of Florida open eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccines, Ascension Medical Group Sacred Heart will meet the need with a series of vaccination clinics in Pensacola and Milton that will be open to anyone 18 and older. 

  Clinics will be held at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola on:

  • April 5 from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
  • April 8 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
  • April 10 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • April 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • April 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • April 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

  Online appointments can be made at www.GetSacredHeartCare.com. The clinics will offer either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, which require two shots about 3-4 weeks apart.

• Baptist Health Care- Baptist Health Care (BHC) and LandrumHR are working together to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible and interested LandrumHR employees and their families. LandrumHR employs more than 5,600 people in Northwest Florida. This combined effort is expected to make a significant impact on efforts to achieve overall community vaccination goals.
  
  LandrumHR team members and their family members who meet the current State of Florida qualifying guidelines for receiving the vaccine will be able to schedule a vaccination appointment through BHC’s existing scheduling portals that include online, email and phone. Vaccinations for LandrumHR employees, including PEO (Professional Employer Organization) worksite employees, placed staffing employees, and internal team members, will be administered at Baptist Medical Park – Nine Mile located at 9400 University Parkway, at the corner of University Parkway and Nine Mile Road in Pensacola.
  Baptist Health Care has received an ample supply of COVID-19 vaccine and is offering appointments at Baptist Medical Park – Nine Mile located at 9400 University Parkway in Pensacola and at Baptist Medical Park – Navarre located at 8888 Navarre Parkway in Navarre. More than 2,000 appointments are available, and Baptist continues to receive supply. Vaccinations will be given by appointment only to those who meet Florida eligibility criteria.

  Beginning March 29, COVID-19 vaccinations are designated for Florida residents who are one of the following:

  • Age 40 or older
  • Medically vulnerable with prescribed State of Florida form that must be completed and signed by a physician. Form is available at ebaptisthealthcare.org/easyschedule.
  • Health care workers*
  • Preschool, K-12 school or day care employees of any age*

  *People who are in one of the allowable workforce groups must present an ID badge or proof of employment at the appointment.

  Beginning April 5, all Florida residents age 18 or older will be eligible to receive the vaccine. 

  How to Make a Vaccination Appointment

  Appointments can be made one of three ways:

  • Visit EasySchedule.com. Click “procedure appointment” and complete the registration.
  • Email name and contact information to BHCVaccine@bhcpns.org.
  • For those who do not have email/internet access, call 850.908.SHOT (7468), Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Community Health Northwest Florida-

  Community Health Northwest Florida will hold COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Pensacola this week at the Brownsville Community Center. Appointments are required for most clinics. Eligible persons who wish to participate in one of these events should call the Community Health COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center at 850-439-3358 to schedule an appointment.

  Tuesday, March 30 

  • Location: Brownsville Community Center  

  • Time: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.  

  • APPOINTMENTS REQUIRED - Call 850-439-3358  

  • Vaccine: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine – First dose (of two) 

  Wednesday, March 31 

  • Location: Brownsville Community Center  

  • Time: 1 – 5 p.m.  

  • APPOINTMENTS REQUIRED - Call 850-439-3358  

  • Vaccine: Johnson and Johnson "One Shot" Vaccine

  Thursday, April 1

  • Location: Langley Bell 4H Center, 3730 Stefani Rd. in Cantonment

  • Time: 8 a.m.- 3 p.m.

  • APPOINTMENTS REQUIRED - Call 850-439-3358 

  • Vaccine: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine – First dose (of two)

  These clinics are open to all Florida residents who qualify to receive the vaccine, including those covered under the Governor’s latest Executive Orders. Currently, the amended order expands the groups eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida to include all people age 40 and older, people who are "medically vulnerable", and individuals who hold specific jobs that put them at high risk.

• Florida Department of Health, Escambia County- FDOH-Escambia will schedule appointments based on supply availability. For the most up-to-date information, follow them on Twitter at @HealthyEscambia and visit EscambiaHealth.com. Escambia County residents should use the statewide preregistration system to sign up for vaccination. Residents can call the toll-free line at 866-201-1025 or register online at myvaccine.fl.gov. The TTY number for the deaf and hard of hearing is 833-476-1461. Registrants will be notified when appointments are available in their area. The State has established a help line at 833-959-0217 for those who need to make changes to their original pre-registration.
  • This pre-registration system will proactively contact vaccine-eligible individuals to schedule appointments when they are available at health department or emergency management vaccine sites. Appointments are opened based upon the vaccine supply received each week from the State of Florida. Please be aware that when Sharecare calls or texts you to schedule an appointment, they will NOT ask for financial information or social security information.
• Florida- Sign up for text message updates about the vaccine and distribution by texting "FLCOVID19" to 888777. After you submit the text message, it will ask you to supply your zip code for local-level updates. Information about the statewide vaccine distribution plan can be found at floridahealthcovid19.gov/covid-19-vaccines-in-florida/.

• CVS- CVS Health is partnering with several local state and federal programs to help administer the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible populations. Appointments will be available as they receive vaccines from these programs.
  • Register in advance at CVS.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app. People without online access can contact CVS customer service at (800) 746-7287.
  • Walk-in vaccinations without an appointment will not be provided.
• Publix - Publix is opening its online reservation system for COVID 19 vaccination appointments at all 730 of its in-store Florida pharmacies, including the addition of 136 stores in Broward and Miami Dade counties. Publix will continue to announce appointment dates. Monitor Publix's online portal here.

• Walmart and Sam's Club- Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies can now accept and administer federal allocations of the COVID-19 vaccine. Walmart and Sam’s Club are working with the federal government to help increase access to COVID-19 vaccines at select pharmacies in 22 states once vaccine doses are available, starting late next week.

  • Once a store or club receives allocation, the online scheduler will be available to make appointments at walmart.com/COVIDvaccine and samsclub.com/covid. 

• Winn-Dixie - View the Winn-Dixie online portal here.

Escambia County

• Hospital Information totals
  • Hospitalizations 22 (current hospitalizations as of 2:30 p.m. March 29, 2021)
  • Bed Capacity 1,397  (county SITREP)
  • Bed Occupancy 1,128  (county SITREP)
  • Beds Available 440 (as of 2:30 p.m. March 30, 2021)
  • Total Ventilators 215 (as of 2:30 p.m. March 30, 2021)
  • Available Ventilators 142 (as of 2:30 p.m. March 30, 2021)
  • Recovered 33,201* (Approximate: total cases prior to last month minus deaths)
  • To view the county's Crude Case-Recovery Risk and a detailed explanation of the formula by which it is calculated, visit the Escambia County COVID-19 dashboard. The current Crude Case-Recovery Risk is 97.88% (as of 2:30 p.m. March 30, 2021)

• Testing sites
  • Community Health Northwest Florida now offers drive-through COVID-19 testing three days per week from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
    • Mondays at 2315 W. Jackson St., Pensacola
    • Wednesdays at Cantonment Pediatrics, 470 S. US Hwy 29 in Cantonment
    • Fridays at 2315 W. Jackson St., Pensacola

  • For send out tests, no appointment is required.

  • For rapid tests (for symptomatic individuals), appointment is required; please call the CHNWF Covid-19 testing call center at 850-390-4276.

• Rapid testing information
  • Appointments are available for Escambia County residents who are 3 months and older and are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Patients desiring COVID-19 testing through Ascension Sacred Heart's locations in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties should pre-register online by visiting: www.getsacredheartcare.com to be pre-screened and scheduled (if eligible) or call Community Health Northwest Florida at 850-390-4276. Rapid testing is offered for symptomatic individuals by appointment only. 
• Escambia County dashboard

Escambia County Corrections

• Cumulatively, 1,309 Escambia County inmates have been tested:
  • 246 positive (220 have been medically cleared, and 22 have been released from custody, leaving 4 active, positive cases at this time)
  • 1063 negative
  • 0 pending
• At the Walton County jail, 29 Escambia County inmates tested positive out of the 146 inmates housed there.

Florida Department of Health in Escambia County

• The Florida Department of Health in Escambia County (FDOH-Escambia) encourages eligible residents to preregister for the COVID-19 vaccine. Residents can call the toll-free line at, 866-201-1025 or preregister online at http://myvaccine.fl.gov.
• Pursuant to EO 21-47, the State Department has published a form for physicians to certify that they have determined an individual to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 and eligible to receive the vaccine. Click here to access the form.
• Escambia County residents should use the statewide preregistration system to sign up for vaccination. Residents can call the toll-free line at 866-201-1025 or preregister online at myvaccine.fl.gov. The TTY number for the deaf and hard of hearing is 833-476-1461. Registrants will be notified when appointments are available in their area.

  • The State has established a help line at 833-959-0217 for those who need to make changes to their original pre-registration. This pre-registration system will proactively contact vaccine-eligible individuals to schedule appointments when they are available at health department or emergency management vaccine sites.

  • Appointments are opened based upon the vaccine supply received each week from the State of Florida. Please be aware that when ShareCare calls you to schedule an appointment, they will NOT ask for financial information or social security information.

  • If you have pre-registered, we ask for your patience. The demand is high, and the supply is currently limited. As we received vaccine, we work to schedule appointments as quickly as we can. We encourage residents to take advantage of opportunities offered through other partners to get vaccinated.
• State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees issued a Public Health Advisory on January 21 prioritizing vaccines for residents of the State of Florida or individuals in Florida for the purpose of providing health care services involving direct contact with patients.
• FDOH-Escambia highlights recent efforts in providing the COVID-19 vaccine in Escambia County.
• FDOH-Escambia announced this week’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan in Escambia County.
• Florida has launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Report that will be updated daily. As of March 30, 71,264 Escambia County residents have been vaccinated.
• The Florida Department of Health (the Department) issued a Public Health Advisory recommending the following: all individuals in Florida should wear face coverings in any setting where social distancing is not possible and all individuals should refrain from participation in social or recreational gatherings of more than 10 people.
• As of 2 p.m., March 30, Escambia County has had 34,810 positive COVID-19 cases. This number is expected to change daily due to the return of results from ongoing testing. The best source for up-to-date information regarding confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Florida is the Florida Department of Health website and the associated Data and Surveillance Dashboard and Daily Report. The site is currently updated once daily, at around 3 p.m. ET.
• The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Escambia County residents is 664 individuals.
• The Department releases a list of long-term care facilities in Florida associated with COVID-19 cases with active cases and number of deaths in each facility in order to provide real-time data. The list of long-term care facilities with active COVID-19 cases is available here. 

Florida Division of Emergency Management

• The State of Florida Provided Week 15 Updates of vaccine distribution. The Florida Department of Health issued an update on the progress of the state's vaccination efforts, as well as its weekly COVID-19 update.     
• FDEM is seeking volunteers that can administer the vaccine such as doctors, nurses and physician assistants. Please register at www.merits.com/fdem-volunteers, choose the county and then signup.

Governor's Press Office

• Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 21-80 (COVID-19 Reemployment Assistance/Payment of Employer Contributions). Executive Order 21-80 extends by 30 days, to May 31, 2021, employers’ first quarter reemployment assistance tax contributions for the year 2021. A PDF copy of Executive Order 21-80 is available HERE.
• Governor Ron DeSantis signed CS/SB 72 – Civil Liability for Damages Relating to COVID-19. The bill provides crucial liability protection to individuals, businesses, educational institutions, religious organizations, and health care providers for liability claims related to COVID-19.
• Among other measures, CS/SB 72 provides immunity from COVID-19 related claims for individuals, businesses, schools, and houses of worship if a good faith effort was made to comply with health standards and guidance related to COVID-19. The bill also creates strong affirmative defenses for health care providers that substantially complied with and relied upon health standards. A PDF copy of CS/SB 72 can be found HERE.
• Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 21-79 (Amending Executive Order 20-315 - Vaccine Administration/Protecting Florida’s Seniors), which takes effect on Monday, March 29, 2021.
• Beginning Monday, March 29, all individuals age 40 and older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Beginning the following Monday, April 5, all Floridians shall be eligible to receive any COVID-19 vaccine as prescribed by the FDA. A PDF copy of Executive Order is available HERE.
• Governor Ron DeSantis announced new eligibility guidelines for COVID-19 vaccinations in Florida. The only vaccine currently authorized for 16- and 17-year-olds is the Pfizer vaccine, which will be available to them in Florida.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• CDC Real-World Study Confirms Protective Benefits of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines