Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis announced $23 million in funding to bolster Florida’s mental health services system as well as an additional funding initiative to support first responders who have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 public health emergency. This…
Read More $23 Million in CARES Act Funds To Support Florida Mental Health Services
With front-line health workers and nursing home residents and staff expected to get the initial doses of COVID vaccines, the thornier question is figuring out who goes next. The answer will likely depend on where you live. While an influential federal advisory board is expected…
Read More Farmworkers, Firefighters and Flight Attendants Jockey for Vaccine Priority
Broward and Pinellas Counties will serve as two of the first Florida counties taking part next week in a COVID-19 vaccination effort that will prioritize Pfizer-BioNTech immunizations for residents of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and those who provide their care. This initial distribution of vaccines…
Read More Pinellas and Broward To Serve As Pilot Counties To Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Hillsborough County’s state of local emergency enacted in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is extended for another seven-day period. Hillsborough County Administrator Bonnie Wise today signed an extension of the declaration under authority authorized by the County’s Emergency Management Ordinance…
Read More Hillsborough COVID-19 State of Local Emergency Extended, Mask Mandate
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Hillsborough County will provide free, reusable cloth face coverings to residents at two dozen libraries beginning Thursday, Dec. 10. In addition, the County is offering operators of small businesses the ability to request a one-time quantity of 100 face coverings, while…
Read More Free Face Coverings Today, Available at Libraries and to Small Businesses
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – Pinellas County on Wednesday extended its State of Local Emergency for COVID-19 through Dec. 18. The extension was issued by County Administrator Barry A. Burton by delegated authority from the Board of County Commissioners. It keeps in effect a County ordinance…
Read More Pinellas County Extends Local State of Emergency for COVID-19
Hillsborough County, Fla.– Hillsborough County wants to learn how residents feel about the forthcoming COVID-19 vaccines and understand what obstacles the community might have to taking a vaccine. The anonymous survey, offered in English and Spanish, is designed to help County leadership understand respondents’ attitudes…
Read More Hillsborough County Survey to Gather Residents’ Opinions on Vaccines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the following actions taken in its ongoing response effort to the COVID-19 pandemic: Today, the FDA posted online background material for this week’s upcoming Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) public meeting. The VRBPAC will meet in…
Read More U.S. FDA COVID-19 Update
By Rachana Pradhan , Angela Hart , Julie Rovner , and Jenny Gold Xavier Becerra, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is set to be a pandemic-era secretary with no public health experience. Whether that matters depends on whom you ask. Becerra built…
Read More Becerra, an HHS Nominee With Political Skill But No Front-Line Health Experience
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – The Hillsborough County Water Resources Department has issued a precautionary boil water notice for some County customers that receive their drinking water via an interconnect with the City of Tampa after low water pressure was reported in the city on Monday…
Read More Precautionary Boil Water Notice Issued for Some Hillsborough County Residents