Category Archives: Coronavirus

FDA authorizes boosters for people 65+, high risk

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The outside of the Food and Drug Administration headquarters is seen in White Oak, Md., on Monday, November 9, 2015. The FDA is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and has been in commission since 1906

The US Food and Drug Administration late Wednesday authorized booster doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people ages 65 and up. Also eligible for boosters will be those ages 18 to 64 who are at high risk of severe COVID-19 or at high risk from frequent occupational or institutional exposures to SARS-CoV-2, such as healthcare workers and teachers.

The single booster dose should only be given at least six months after the two initial doses. The authorization comes as an amendment to an Emergency Use Authorization.

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Feds capping Regeneron shipments

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Officials set Florida’s weekly supply of monoclonal antibody treatments to 30,950 doses.

The Biden administration is capping the supply of a COVID-19 treatment heavily promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis as demand soars in states hit hard by the delta surge.

DeSantis has opened 25 clinics across the state that provide Regeneron’s antibody cocktail at no cost to patients, but state officials are concerned about new supply limits implemented this week by the federal government, said Christina Pushaw, the governor’s spokesperson.

Federal health officials are setting Florida’s weekly supply of monoclonal antibody treatments at 30,950 doses, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A box and vial of the Regeneron monoclonal antibody is seen at a new COVID-19 treatment site opened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Florida’s state clinics and private providers have been ordering about 72,000 doses a week, Pushaw said. About 36,000 doses are required weekly to supply the state clinics, she said.

“We didn’t get any notice or time to prepare for this — neither did any providers in Florida,” Pushaw said. “We were blindsided by this and the deficit is pretty significant, but it is the governor’s priority to make sure we fill that gap.”

Health care providers and states are no longer able to order the drug from the federal government. Instead, states will get a weekly allotment based on infection and hospitalization rates.

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Florida unemployment rate holds steady, as Orlando tops metro areas for joblessness

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Florida’s unemployment rate was unchanged from October at 6.4%, but Orlando recorded the highest number of any metropolitan area in the state at 7.7%.

A report released Friday by the Department of Economic Opportunity shows the continuing powerful effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the state and particularly Central Florida’s tourism-dependent economy.

In all, about 651,000 Floridians were jobless in November, the report says.

In Central Florida, Orange County came in at 8.1% for November, Osceola at 9.7%, Lake at 6.5% and Seminole at 5.7%. Osceola and Orange had the first- and second-highest county rates in the state.

Metro Orlando’s rate topped that of Miami’s, which in previous months had posted the highest percentage of joblessness.

Adrienne Johnston, DEO’s chief of the Bureau of Labor Market Statistics, said seasonal retail hiring was slow this year.

“I think we’re seeing where people are shopping online a little bit more of the season. Businesses did not add as many employees to their payrolls,” Johnson said in a conference call.

The overall U.S. unemployment rate for November was 6.7%.

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Florida reopens: DeSantis lifts remaining coronavirus restrictions

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Bars and restaurants are no longer required to operate at less than full capacity, as Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Friday removing all remaining restrictions on businesses because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But the executive order, which takes effect immediately, also prohibits local governments from closing businesses or collecting fines related to pandemic-related mandates, such as mask requirements.

“We are today moving into what we initially called phase 3,” DeSantis said during a press conference in St. Petersburg. “And what that’ll mean for the restaurants is there will not be limitations from the state of Florida.”

“We’re also saying in the state of Florida everybody has a right to work,” he added. “(Local governments) can do reasonable regulations but they can’t just say no.”

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Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort is laying off 1,100 employees

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With the professional athletes gone, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort is laying off about 1,100 employees because of low occupancy and canceled events in another hit to the tourism industry because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The layoffs are coming after Major League players stayed there this summer.

The Marriott hotel between Epcot and Hollywood Studios called the economic impact “historic, swift and devastating” as it alerted the state as a requirement under federal law for mass layoffs.

The entire Swan portion of the hotel had been home to MLS teams who were staying there in the “bubble” in July and August as they played in a tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports.

NBA players also became guests at other Disney hotels when the league restarted play in Orlando amid the pandemic.

Even though all Orlando’s theme parks are open, September has been a brutal time for the industry as thousands of employees have recently been let go or placed on indefinite furloughs.

New notices filed this week showed 5,400 Universal employees are furloughed and 1,900 employees at SeaWorld’s Orlando properties are now permanently laid off after being furloughed since March.

The Swan and Dolphin warned the economic impact will carry over into 2021.

The 1,136 positions are in multiple departments of the hotel, including 256 banquet servers, 41 cooks, 67 housekeepers and 88 loss prevention officers. The notice said the layoffs are permanent and effective Nov. 13.

Included are about 135 union employees represented by Teamsters Local 385 who work primarily as servers, housekeepers and laundry attendants. Those employees may be among the first to return if the hotel reverses course and brings back jobs.

At 11%, metro Orlando had the highest regional unemployment rate in the state in August, according to a report released Friday.