Cases of coronavirus on Anna Maria Island more than doubled since November.
But the light at the end of a tunnel spanning 10 months of cases could be approaching.
Manatee County has begun a plan to roll out phased vaccinations for the novel coronavirus in limited quantities, Jake Saur, Manatee County public safety director, said during a Dec. 10 county meeting.
Saur said staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities would be the first to receive vaccinations.
Following the initial distribution, first-responders, education providers and other “critical elements of the workforce will be targeted for vaccination.”
In the subsequent phase, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions would receive a vaccine, before reaching the general public.
In the meantime, Saur said, “It is critical our citizens and visitors continue to remain vigilant in their efforts to reduce the spread of the virus through social distancing, wearing a mask and practicing safe hygiene.”
According to Saur, 70% of the population — about 275,000 people in the county — must be vaccinated or have already contracted the virus and recovered for herd immunity to be successful.
Herd immunity is an indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections, thereby reducing the likelihood of infection for individuals who lack immunity.
However, according to Saur, the impact of herd immunity is still being researched.
As of Dec. 10, 96 people in Holmes Beach, 51 people in Bradenton Beach and 30 people in Anna Maria had tested positive for COVID-19 since the first case was reported in the county in March.
On Nov. 12, 90 islandwide cases were documented — 45 in Holmes Beach, 34 in Bradenton Beach and 11 in Anna Maria.
According to metrics provided by the Florida Department of Health as of Dec. 10, 17,759 people tested positive for the virus in Manatee County since March, with 392 fatalities, an increase of 1,279 positive cases and 21 deaths since Dec. 1.
The state documented 1,056,065 cases as of Dec. 10, with 19,378 deaths — an increase of 79,121 cases and 878 deaths since Dec. 1.
As of Dec. 10, 911 people had been hospitalized due to the virus in the county and about 90% of those who tested positive in the county recovered from the illness, according to DOH-Manatee.
FDA’s emergency use authorization
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued Dec. 11 the first emergency use authorization for a vaccine for the prevention COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age and older.
The FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which will be administered as a series of two doses, three weeks apart.