Orange County to Close Convention Center COVID-19 Vaccination Site, Open New Site in May

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – As of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, the county has seen 129,000 cases and 1,215 deaths related to COVID-19. The 14-day positivity rate is up from 6.7% to 7% and the median age for infection is 33 years old.

The Convention Center and Barnett Park testing sites see a combined average of over 3,000 tests per day and are scheduled to be open until April 30th.

Over 650,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered by the county, FEMA, and the local pharmacies with over 220,000 being administered at the Convention Center. 77% of those over 65, 50% of those over 40, and 36% of those over 18 in Orange County have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The Convention Center administers an average of 4,000 doses per day, six days a week but will begin the transition to a new, yet unknown site in early May. The county’s mobile vaccination site focuses on underserved communities and will be in Barber Park from April 12th to April 16th. It is a drive-thru site and the site administered 1,000 doses of the vaccine on its first day of operation at Barber Park.

The county’s COVID-19 rental assistance program has had 5,936 total applicants in the portal with 2,640 total applications submitted. 1,331 applications are under review with 986 applicants contacted. The total number of applications approved so far is 80, with a total cost of $328K, with the average payment being $4,000. The total number of applications that were denied is 986, but most of them were duplicate applications or the applicants did not qualify because they live in the City of Orlando or outside of Orange County. The county is receiving about 250 applications per week.

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Lynn DeJarnette is a contributing writer for Florida National News. | info@floridanationalnews.com