Editor s Note:Â
This story was updated with a corrected number of people who were given their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Chronicle regrets the error.
More than 200 locals have been inoculated against COVID-19 after vaccines arrived this past week in Citrus County for healthcare workers.
As of Monday, Dec. 28, according to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH), 226 county residents have received their first vaccine dose against the contagious novel coronavirus.Â
Florida Department of Health in Citrus County FL Dept. of Health
Those people could have also received their vaccine outside of the county as part of their employment.
Editor s Note:Â
This story was updated with a clarification from the Florida Department of Health in Citrus County about local vaccinations.
As COVID-19 cases surpassed 6,000 in Citrus County this past week, the first local inoculations against the contagious respiratory disease were also given out.
According to a Florida Department of Health (FDOH) report from Monday, Dec. 21, 15 county residents were given the first of two vaccination doses for the novel coronavirus since the state first began its distribution plan Monday, Dec. 14, injecting 43,716 doses so far. Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle
Audrey Stasko, a spokeswoman for the FDOH in Citrus County, said Tuesday there are no vaccine vials in the county yet.
Health officials are seeing a slight downturn in local COVID-19 transmissions and hospitalizations, but urged people not to get complacent.
âWeâre seeing a little bit of a downturn,â Florida Department of Health (FDOH) in Citrus County Administrator Ernesto âTitoâ Rubio told Crystal River City Council Monday, Dec. 14, 2020.
Rubio said the countyâs positivity rate for the novel coronavirus was at around 9%, down from 10-11%, but the desired benchmark is at or below 5%. Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle
Ernesto Tito Rubio, administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Citrus County.
As of Monday, according to the FDOH, Citrus County recorded a total 5,570 cases of the infectious respiratory disease. Itâs an increase of 400 cases over the last week since Monday, Dec. 7, at an average 57 cases a day.