March 8, 2021
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread globally, Leon County Emergency Management is committed to actively monitoring the disease and coordinating preparedness and response efforts with local health officials, healthcare providers, first responders and other critical emergency response functions.
The following update provides a timely, accurate and vetted source of official County and community information.
On March 1, 2021 Governor DeSantis signed Executive Order 21-47 expanding eligibility requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine across the state of Florida. Effective March 3, 2021, eligible individuals include:
- Long-term care facility residents and staff
- Persons 65 years of age and older
- Health care personnel with direct patient contact
- K-12 school employees 50 years of age and older
- Sworn law enforcement officers 50 years of age and older
- Firefighters 50 years of age and older
- In addition to hospital providers, physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, and pharmacists may vaccinate persons determined by a physician to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. Click here for Physician's Form.
Significant Changes Since Last Update
- Florida State University is offering COVID-19 vaccinations to eligible individuals by appointment only at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center Exhibition Hall. The vaccine will be distributed in accordance with guidelines provide by the Governor's Executive Order. Individuals who meet the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) definition of “extremely vulnerable” will be eligible to register for vaccination appointments through the University. Vaccines are also available to individuals who are age 65+, health care personnel, K-12 school employees, sworn law enforcement officers age 50+, and firefighters age 50+. Registration is open at: https://vaccine.fsu.edu/
- Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) is currently scheduling appointments for individuals age 65 and older to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals 65 and older can schedule an appointment online or by calling 850-431-3017 and leaving a message. Registration is open at: https://www.tmh.org/coronavirus/vaccine/vaccines-for-adults-65-plus
- FAMU's Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center (1800 Wahnish Way) site offers walk-up vaccinations to eligible individuals from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. seven days a week. Eligible individuals per the Governor's Executive Order should bring a valid photo ID. Preregistration is encouraged, but not necessary. Those seeking to be vaccinated can pre-register online at: https://commvax.patientportalfl.com/s/?language=en_US
- Select Publix, Walmart and Sam's Club stores in Leon County have begun scheduling COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible individuals. Appointments are required at each location and can be made on the following websites:
- The Florida Department of Health in Leon County is offering COVID-19 vaccines to eligible individuals with pre-registration open at https://myvaccine.fl.gov/ . Those without internet access can pre-register by calling (866) 200-3856. For those requiring TTY access, the phone number is (833) 476-1455. For more information, call (833) 540-2054 or visit leon.floridahealth.gov.
- Community partners offer to transport seniors to COVID-19 vaccination clinics vis Lyft Ride Program. 2-1-1 in partnership with The United Way, 2-1-1 Big Bend and Lyft is offering transportation to COVID-19 vaccine sites through the Lyft Ride United Program. The project provides safe and reliable door to door rides to COVID-19 vaccine appointments at walk-up COVID-19 vaccination sites. Rides can be set up by calling (850) 617-6325 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
- Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare continues its series "State of COVID-19 - A Community Update" at noon this Friday, March 12. This virtual event collectively brings together local community health professionals for an open conversation about COVID-19. The discussion begins at noon via Zoom and is streamed live on Facebook. Register and submit questions at TMH.org/CovidTalk.
- County offering free face coverings for pickup at all Libraries. Leon County continues to make free face coverings available for pickup at all County library locations during regular hours. Through the library program and with OEV, the County has distributed over 525,000 masks to citizens. Five face masks per individual will be allowed for pickup to ensure adequate supply to meet demand. For locations and hours, visit www.LeonCountyLibrary.gov
Leon County's COVID-19 Health Metrics
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- Weekly Documented New Cases
337 DECREASING (from 460 cases)
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- Weekly Percent of Positive Cases
3.53% DECREASING (from 4.38%)
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- Weekly Emergency Room Visits with Influenza-like Illness
21 INCREASING (from 14 visits)
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- Weekly Emergency Room Visits with COVID-like Illness
36 DECREASING (from 39 visits)
COVID-19 by the Numbers. Global cases of COVID-19 now exceed 116 million. According to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) there are or have been 29,520 positive cases of COVID-19 in Leon County. In Florida, there are or have been 1,944,995 positive cases of COVID-19, and 31,683 COVID-19-related deaths. These numbers are updated regularly by FDOH; visit the dashboard for more detailed information, here. Local testing date includes public and private tests performed in Leon County, including Antigen tests performed by Patients First.
Click below to access more COVID-19 information:
As you may have noticed, we are no longer including the entire community update in this message. Instead, we have organized all of the information from previous community updates in a COVID-19 Information Portal. Below you will find the content available on the portal.
Continue to follow www.LeonCountyFL.gov/eip for any local updates or changes to services.
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