The Mayo Clinic just completed a study affirming the Moderna vaccine is the most effective against the variants. According to the study, 76% for Moderna compared to 42% for Pfizer also included this detail specific to Florida. Floridians fully vaccinated with Moderna’s shot faced a 60% lower risk of infection when compared to Pfizer recipients.
In related news, Florida remains in peak pandemic mode with 24,869 new COVID-19 cases reported on Thursday, bringing the weekly trend for daily cases to 21,210. There’s increasing consensus among researchers that Florida’s peak of the current surge will occur over the next week as John’s Hopkins modeling is consistent with the University of Florida’s which indicated a peak by mid-next week. Furthermore, hospitalizations for COVID-19 stand at a new high of 15,796, and 85% of Florida’s impatient beds are currently in use of which 27% are COVID-19 patients.
Moving on to education, 440 students are quarantined in Palm Beach County’s schools after 105 students and 26 employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
And in the tropics, Fred will be a rain event for South Florida as it makes an expected pass through the Keys tomorrow as a weak tropical storm before an expected landfall in the panhandle on Monday.