COVID 19 Vaccine Update to our Community
We have completely exhausted our supply of COVID-19 vaccine

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COVID 19 Vaccine Updates

Updated: 01/22/21

Nationally, the number of new COVID-19 cases has now declined from the most recent peak. There continue to be significant hotspots in COVID-19 activity across the U.S. following the holidays. California and Arizona have seen significant surges in the number of new cases. In Arizona, the daily death rate has increased from 90 to 160 deaths over the past 2 weeks. Review of recent data in Florida suggests that we may be starting to see some moderation after the most recent surge. The Rt currently stands at 0.93, below the important threshold of 1.0. Number of new cases and percent positivity rates are both decreasing. There has also been a trend of decreasing COVID-like illness presenting to emergency rooms over the past week.

The impact of the variant COVID-19 viruses, which appear to be more transmissible, remains uncertain. The United Kingdom has seen a significant acceleration in new case rates which is attributed to the variants. It is predicted that the U.K. variant may become the dominant virus in the U.S. by March.

Efforts to vaccinate key populations have been accelerating. Over 12 million people have received initial vaccine doses nationally, which is about 3.6% of the population. In Florida, almost one million individuals (4.5%) have received their first shot.

Statewide Metrics

  • There were 92,485 new cases during the week ending January 10th (decreasing).
  • There were 7420 patients hospitalized on January 18th (decreasing).
  • The percent positive rate averaged 10.73 for the week ending January 10th (decreasing).
  • The retransmission rate (Rt) is 0.93 on January 19th (decreasing).

Palm Beach County Metrics

  • There were 505 new cases on January 17th and 5,684 new cases for the week ending January 10th (decreasing).
  • The positivity rate was 9.18% for the week ending January 10th (decreasing).
  • There was a decrease in COVID-like illness cases to 643 for the week ending January 10th (decreasing).

Jupiter Medical Center

  • There are 31 patients currently hospitalized at JMC with COVID-19
  • 5 patients are in the ICU (3 of these patients requiring ventilator support and 2 requiring BIPAP support).
  • We are testing approximately 600 people per week for COVID-19 in the urgent care centers, down from 1000 per week.

Vaccine Update

Since December 23rd, Jupiter Medical Center has received approximately 2,000 doses of vaccine. Of these, roughly 1,200 doses were administered to healthcare workers with direct patient contact, comprised of JMC clinical team members and community physicians. The remaining approximately 800 doses, focusing on community members over age 65, were booked within 34 minutes of being posted on our website. 800 doses is barely enough to serve the needs of even one community in the towns surrounding JMC, let alone the over 90,000 residents over the age of 65 in our Primary Service Area (defined as the area where 75% of JMC patients reside). The limited number of doses received has simply been woefully inadequate to meet the tremendous need that exists.

As mentioned in my memo last week, recent policy changes provided hope that vaccine supply constraints would abate in February as second doses of the vaccines, which had been previously placed in reserve, would now be released immediately. Unfortunately, breaking news later in the week revealed that no stockpile exists, meaning that vaccine allocations to states for the upcoming weeks will remain flat.

State authorities are now shifting to a delivery model which will emphasize retail store chains as the primary sites for community members to receive vaccinations. Governor DeSantis yesterday announced plans to increase access sites for vaccine administration by focusing on Publix pharmacies.

We are continuously reaching out to County and State officials to request additional supply for JMC so that we can administer vaccine to our local community. We have submitted applications to AHCA (Agency for Healthcare Administration) to serve as a Community Vaccination site with the ability to administer thousands of vaccines weekly on the JMC campus and our Urgent Care Centers.

We have completely exhausted our vaccine supply and as the focus shifts away from hospitals to Publix pharmacies as vaccination sites, we do not know when or if we will receive additional shipments of vaccine. As a result, we encourage people to pursue all available avenues for receiving their vaccinations. We will continue to provide updates on our website and additional communications as we receive information from our state and county partners.

If you received your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at JMC, we have been assured by state authorities that we will receive an additional shipment to administer your second dose.

While early signs indicate that the most recent surge in COVID-19 cases may be receding and vaccine access sites appear to be increasing, please continue safe practices such as wearing masks and social distancing. Hopefully, the combination of the aforementioned will help slow the momentum of COVID-19 cases.

Thank you for your continued support during these challenging times.

Updated: 01/19/21

We have completely exhausted our vaccine supply. In an effort to increase vaccine access sites, State authorities announced today that vaccine administration will shift away from hospitals towards local Publix Pharmacies. As a result, we are uncertain when or if we will receive additional vaccine shipments.

To keep phone lines open for medical emergencies, please continue to check this web page for updates.

Your continued support of Jupiter Medical Center is greatly appreciated.

Updated 01/15/21

We have currently exhausted our supply of COVID-19 vaccine. We are in communication with state and local authorities to receive additional allotments. We do not know the exact timing or quantity of our next shipment. To keep phone lines open for medical emergencies, please continue to check this page for updates.

Your continued support of Jupiter Medical Center is greatly appreciated.

Updated 01/13/21

The salient updates regarding the COVID-19 pandemic are based upon the continued national surge in cases as well as a slower than expected rollout of initial vaccination administrations. New cases in the U.S. continue to rise, with over 300,000 new cases reported on January 8th. Additionally, hospitalizations continue to rise with over 129,000 patients reported in the U.S. This represents more people hospitalized now than at the peak of the spring and summer surges combined. December was the deadliest month nationally in long-term care facilities since the beginning of the pandemic. This surge has also been seen in Florida, with continued increases in the number of new cases as well as in the number of hospitalizations. The number of new cases per day has increased by 8% over the past 7 days.

The pace of vaccinations has significantly underperformed expectations. Only 9 million people have received the initial dose of 25 million vaccine doses nationally and only 600,000 individuals have received the initial dose in Florida. The biggest issue appears to be related to the supply of vaccine. In addition, getting the doses administered in a timely fashion once the vaccine has been delivered to the destination has been challenging for many hospitals, although that has not been the case for JMC.

Statewide Metrics

  • There were 109,536 new cases during the week ending January 3rd.
  • There were 7,713 patients hospitalized on January 12th.
  • The percent positive rate averaged 12.65 for the week ending January 3rd.
  • The retransmission rate (Rt) was 1.05 on January 12th.

Palm Beach County Metrics

  • There were 753 new cases on January 12th and 6,113 new cases for the week ending January 3rd.
  • The positivity rate was 10.85% for the week ending January 3rd.
  • There was a decrease in COVID-like illness cases to 663 for the week ending January 3rd.

Jupiter Medical Center

  • There are 29 patients currently hospitalized with Covid-19 at JMC.
  • 7 patients are in the ICU, 2 requiring ventilators
  • We continue to test over 1,000 patients per week in our urgent care centers for COVID-19.

Vaccine Update

While significant vaccine supply challenges persist, we were glad to recently receive 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the state. The JMC team implemented plans to administer vaccine based on the parameters established in the governor’s executive order. Our first allotment a few weeks ago focused on healthcare workers (team members and medical staff). With many of those needs met, our most recent shipment focused on community residents over age 65. Unfortunately, due to the limited supply and unusually high demand, vaccination appointments were booked in under an hour of posting availability on the website. Approximately 75% of those appointments were booked by community members over age 65, residing mostly in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens with a few residing in Stuart and West Palm Beach. The remaining 25% were booked by healthcare workers from the JMC clinical team and community medical practices.

We share your frustration regarding the limited supply of the vaccine and the unpredictable nature of the process. Fortunately, policy changes over the past few days provide hope that vaccine supply constraints will abate in the upcoming weeks. Starting in two weeks, vaccines will be distributed weekly to states based on the number of residents over 65-years old and by the pace of administration in each state. Furthermore, second doses of the vaccines, which had been previously placed in reserve, will now be released immediately. These changes should help us secure more vaccine in the upcoming weeks. While this may cause concern for those who have been fortunate to receive the first dose of the vaccine, we have been assured by state officials that current vaccine production rates will be sufficient to meet second dose requirements. Florida State Surgeon General, Dr. Scott Rivkees, testified before the State Healthcare Committee this morning that our state is scheduled to receive 250,000 vaccine doses weekly, exclusive of the second dose supply. Dr. Rivkees also testified that the CDC has committed to having the necessary doses for the second shot.

Further encouraging news came from Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer earlier this week at JP Morgan’s 39th Annual Healthcare Conference. Moderna believes that its vaccine should provide protection against COVID-19 for at least a year. This is an important development since current vaccine administration projections delineate a 9-12 month timeline for vaccine administration across the U.S. If a booster dose were to be required within this timeframe, it would pose further logistical challenges.

Based on the aforementioned information, we are optimistic that vaccine supply will improve in February. We continue to advocate with state and local officials for larger allocations of vaccine for JMC in upcoming shipments and have applied as a Community Vaccination site. We realize that this is a trying process as COVID-19 cases rise and vaccine distribution seems haphazard at best.

Please know that the JMC team is working diligently to obtain as much vaccine as possible, as quickly as possible, in order to meet the needs of our community and healthcare workers.

Thank you for your support during these challenging times.

Update 01/12/21

We shared here yesterday that we received a limited supply of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for community members over age 65 and healthcare workers. The demand was very high and available appointments filled quickly. We anticipate that as vaccine supply becomes available, we will be able to offer more appointment times to our community.

We are working closely with the state of Florida to receive additional allotments of the vaccine. Please continue to monitor the website for updates. In the interim, should you wish to pursue vaccination through another avenue, we encourage you to do so to avoid any delays.

We look forward to serving you in the future.

Updated 01/05/21

A Message from the CEO, Amit Rastogi, MD, MHCM

The most significant developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic are the expected surge related to the Christmas/New Year’s holidays, the detection of the UK variant B117 in the United States and the rollout of the Pfizer/ Moderna vaccines. CDC forecasts project a sustained high level of 1.2 to 2 million new cases per week in the U.S. National models continue to project an increasing number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19. State level models demonstrate a continued high level of new cases in Florida (75,000 new cases per week) over the next 4 weeks. Unfortunately, we are experiencing the impact of this trend on our urgent care centers, emergency department and our inpatient wards/ICU, as demonstrated by the JMC metrics below.

The second important item is the detection of the UK variant in the US. The B117 variant is believed to be 40-70% more transmissible than other strains, meaning that more persons are likely to be infected when they come in contact with an infected individual. Projections show that the retransmission rate (Rt) may be increased by 0.4 to 0.7 by the new strain. It is not yet known whether the new strain produces more severe disease. Scientists are currently evaluating the susceptibility of the variant strain to the current vaccines. At the present time, it is believed that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be effective against the new strain.

Statewide Metrics

  • There were 91,109 new cases during the week ending December 27th
  • There were 7,245 patients hospitalized on January 3rd
  • The percent positive rate averaged 12.4% for the week ending December 27th
  • The retransmission rate (Rt) is 1.15

Palm Beach County Metrics

  • There were 796 new cases on January 4th and 5,088 new cases for the week ending December 27th.
  • The positivity rate was 9.85% for the week ending December 27th.
  • COVID-like illness cases have increased to 617 new cases per week (ending December 27th).

Jupiter Medical Center Metrics

  • There are 29 COVID positive patients admitted at JMC.
  • 6 of these patients are in the ICU (two patients requiring mechanical ventilation, one requiring BIPAP support).
  • The number of patients being tested daily in the ED for COVID illness has jumped to over 50 per day.
  • We are testing over 1,000 patients per week in our urgent care centers for COVID.

Vaccines

While the development of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in record time has been a boon, distribution of the vaccines has proven to be a significant logistical challenge around the globe and our nation.

In Florida, the state has received nearly 965,000 doses of vaccines for Covid-19, of which 533,000 doses have been provided to hospitals and approximately 250,000 of those vaccines have been administered. The vast majority of the doses arrived between 12/22/20 and 12/29/20, hampering rollout due to the holiday break.

On December 23, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis signed an Executive Order prioritizing vaccine administration to healthcare workers, long-term care facility residents and those over age 65. Unfortunately, the current supply of vaccine is not enough to meet the demand even for the priority categories, and it will require months to successfully vaccinate these individuals. Hospital staff and long-term care residents/staff in Florida constitute at least 750,000 individuals and there are more than 4.5 million individuals 65 and older. Compounding this challenge is the fact that the current vaccines require administration of a second dose to these recipients within 3-4 weeks of the first one.

The first week of Covid-19 vaccine deployment in Florida began with the distribution of Pfizer vaccine to five pilot sites, for the purpose of vaccinating healthcare workers and long-term care residents. Week two marked shipment of the Moderna vaccine to hospitals across the state for healthcare workers, along with vaccination of long-term care residents by CVS/Walgreens. In week three, all 67 county health departments received the vaccine to begin community vaccinations.

As we enter week four, Governor DeSantis has directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to work with the Florida Department of Health to identify state-run COVID-19 testing sites that can be converted into vaccine sites. He has also directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to identify places of worship and other locations in underserved communities where the vaccine may be administered. Florida has already begun a pilot program in Escambia County, where over

500 seniors have received their vaccine and have been scheduled for their booster shot, which they will receive at the same location. The governor has directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to hire 1,000 contract nurses to support vaccination efforts and these nurses will be deployed throughout the entire state to help run vaccination sites. Governor DeSantis is also directing the Florida Division of Emergency Management to assume additional responsibilities regarding the administration of vaccines in Florida’s over 3,000 assisted living facilities, supplementing and accelerating the efforts being undertaken by CVS and Walgreens, pursuant to their agreement with the federal government. At this time, vaccines for those over 65 will be available from the county health department and hospitals.

At Jupiter Medical Center, we are proud that we were able to start vaccinating healthcare workers (team members and medical staff) within 2 hours of receiving our first vaccine allocation on December 23rd. Additionally, we administered the vaccine on Christmas eve as well as Saturday and Sunday of the holiday weekend to increase access for medical staff providers unable to participate during the week due to patient care responsibilities.

We have exhausted our first allocation of the vaccine focusing on healthcare workers and have submitted a plan to the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) requesting a significant increase in future allotments. This would allow us to vaccinate thousands of community members weekly, prioritizing those over 65 years of age, while continuing to vaccinate healthcare workers. We have offered to conduct community vaccination clinics on JMC campus, our Urgent Care Center locations and in the community, seven days a week.

While we don’t yet know the exact timing or quantity of our next shipment of vaccine from the state, we anticipate receiving it as early as next week. Much of the uncertainty stems from a national vaccine supply chain process which is still under development. Currently, the states receive a varying allotment of vaccine on a weekly basis from federal authorities and subsequently allocate it to hospitals and county health departments. In our discussions with state health agency officials, they have assured us that significant efforts are underway to streamline this process and improve predictability of vaccine allotment in the upcoming weeks and months.

JMC leadership continues to advocate with state and local leadership/legislators for increased vaccine allocation for our community. As mentioned above, we have a plan in place to administer community vaccinations, which we are ready to operationalize as soon as we receive notice of our next vaccine allocation. Once we receive notification, we will send out detailed communication regarding the appointment scheduling process, locations, etc.

While we are all glad to put 2020 behind us, we face significant challenges for the first few months of 2021. COVID-19 cases are on the rise and are projected to increase over the next 4-6 weeks as a result of holiday travel. Although vaccines will provide much needed protection against future spread of the virus, the current demand far outpaces supply.

Please know that through these trying times, the entire JMC team is here to serve. Whether it is to diagnose those presenting with COVID-19 symptoms at our urgent care centers/emergency department, or to provide the latest treatments for those requiring admission to the hospital, we are here. While the vaccine rollout presents significant challenges, we are advocating vigorously to obtain as many doses as possible for community vaccinations and re-purposing personnel throughout the organization to operationalize vaccine clinics as soon as we receive more vaccine.

We will get through these trying times together.

Best wishes for a safe and healthy new year.

Updated 12/29/20

A Message from the CEO, Amit Rastogi, MD, MHCM

JMC received its first shipment of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from the Florida Department of Health on Wednesday, 12/23/20. I am proud to say that we began administering it to our healthcare workers (team members/medical staff) within 90 minutes of arrival.

In just 6 days, we have vaccinated over 625 members of our staff, physicians and nurses, prioritizing those who face high risk exposures or high frequency of events. While we continue to vaccinate our healthcare workers, we are working closely with the Florida Department of Health and anticipate vaccinating community members, 65 and older, in the upcoming weeks based on CDC recommendations and the Governor’s Executive Order. To keep you informed, we will continue to post updates on Tuesday and Friday.

Please remember, your best protection from #COVID19 will be a combination of getting a COVID-19 #vaccine, wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet away from others, avoiding crowds, and washing your hands often.

Statewide Metrics

  • There were 68,614 new cases during the week ending December 20th

  • There were 6,400 patients hospitalized on December 28th

  • The percent positive rate averaged 9.03% for the week ending December 20th

  • The retransmission rate (Rt) is 1.05

Palm Beach County Metrics

  • There were 626 new cases on December 28th and 3,529 new cases for the week ending December 20th

  • The positivity rate was 7.15% for the week ending December 20th

  • COVID-like illness cases have remained stable at 472 new cases per week (ending December 20th)

Jupiter Medical Center Metrics

  • There are 21 COVID positive patients admitted at JMC

  • 5 of these patients are in the ICU (one patient requires BIPAP respiratory support)

  • There has been a 4% increase in the number of patients seen in the Urgent Care Centers for COVID testing.

Updated 12/23/20

A Message from the CEO Amit Rastogi, MD, MHCM

The surge in new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations has continued over the past several weeks, partly a sequela of the Thanksgiving holiday. On December 18th, there were over 400,000 new cases in the U.S. There are over 100,000 patients hospitalized in the U.S. and 21,000 requiring ICU level care. Current models project a continued increase in cases over the next 4 weeks and predict 1.2 to 2.3 million new cases will be reported in the week ending January 9th. On a positive note for our state, the consensus projection for models of Florida and Palm Beach County demonstrate a plateau in number of new cases over the next 4 weeks. The state is projected to add 75,000 new cases weekly over the next 4 weeks.

A concerning new development is the emergence of a more transmissible strain of COVID in the United Kingdom. The new variant was first detected in September and already accounts for two-thirds of cases in London. The new strain also exhibits mutations involving the spike protein, which is worrisome because current vaccines target the spike protein. Scientists are studying whether the current vaccines will be effective against the new variant and they believe that will be the case. Due to these concerns, there has been a rapid move to limit travel from the UK to slow the spread of the new variant.

Statewide Metrics

  • There were 74,545 new cases during the week ending December 13th
  • There were 5,241 patients hospitalized on December 21st
  • The percent positive rate averaged 9.38% for the week ending December 13th
  • The retransmission rate (Rt) is 1.08

Palm Beach County Metrics

  • There were 459 new cases on December 20th and 3,791 new cases for the week ending December 13th
  • The positivity rate was 7.59% for the week ending December 13th
  • COVID-like illness cases have decreased to 470 new cases per week (ending December 13th)

Jupiter Medical Center Metrics

  • There are 20 COVID positive patients admitted at JMC
  • 2 of these patients are in the ICU (both patients require BIPAP respiratory support)
  • We are testing approximately 25 patients per day in the ED for COVID-19
  • There has been a 30% increase in the number of patients seen in the Urgent Care Centers for COVID testing.

Vaccines

We are proud to report that JMC received its first shipment of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine today from the state and we have initiated administration of the vaccine for healthcare workers, a very significant advance in our battle against the pandemic. An FDA advisory panel recommended on Thursday, December 17th that the Moderna vaccine receive an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), which was issued this past Friday.

The Moderna vaccine is based on a messenger RNA platform. The messenger RNA enters the cell and encodes the spike protein of the virus, which in turn causes the body to develop antibodies against this antigen. The vaccine demonstrated 94.1% efficacy in preventing COVID infection in a Phase III trial which included 30,000 participants. Vaccination requires 2 doses, 4 weeks apart. Additionally, there were no severe cases of COVID disease in the few patients who did contract COVID illness after vaccination. The side effect profile is excellent. There were no patients who had an anaphylactic or severe hypersensitivity reaction. The most common adverse reaction was injection site pain (90%). A flu-like syndrome with: fatigue (60%), muscle pain (60%), joint pain (40%), and chills (40%) which lasted for 1 to 2 days was also fairly common. This syndrome was more frequently seen after the 2nd dose and in younger patients (<55 years old). Serious adverse events occurred in less than 1% of patients in the vaccine group and in the control group, with no evidence that these were related to the vaccine.

On December 20, 2020 the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) released its recommendations regarding COVID-19 vaccine administration. Their goal is to balance the prevention of morbidity/mortality from COVID with the preservation of societal functioning:

Frontline Essential Workers are defined as workers who are in sectors essential to the functioning of society and are at substantially higher risk of exposure to COVID (i.e. firefighters, police, teachers, etc.) while Other Essential Workers include those in transportation, food services, housing, etc.

While CDC data reveals that COVID-19 incidence is highest in young adults (ages 18-29), mortality rates are highest in older adults (those over 85 years followed by ages 75-84).

From a population perspective, group 1a represents approximately 24 million people, group 1b about 49 million unique persons and group 1c represents 129 million unique persons. Barring unforeseen circumstances, CDC models predict requiring roughly 8 weeks to vaccinate group 1a, 12 weeks for group 1b and 24 weeks for group 1c.

In Florida, the Department of Health is partnering with pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, etc.) to administer COVID vaccinations for long term care facilities. Therefore, JMC’s initial vaccination plan focuses on healthcare workers. Based on CDC guidelines, our leadership team has developed a plan for vaccinating JMC team members and our medical staff, prioritizing vaccinations for those who face high risk exposures or high frequency of events. This includes individuals working in our COVID Unit, the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, etc.

In line with national models, we anticipate that it will take several weeks to provide the initial dose of the vaccine to our team members and medical staff. We will be working with state authorities to coordinate JMC participation in the vaccination of our community members, which we anticipate will begin in the spring based on CDC projections. This plan continues to evolve and the timeframe depends on our allocation of vaccine, when they are received, as well as evolving CDC and ACIP recommendations.

We remain committed to being a leader in the fight against the pandemic and coordinating with state and local authorities to rapidly vaccinate our team members, providers, and members of our community. In an effort to keep you apprised of this rapidly evolving situation, which affects all of us and our families, we will update our website every Tuesday and Friday and post details as they become available via the following link: https://www.jupitermed.com/covid19-vaccine/.

The arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine certainly brings much needed hope that we will all soon be on the path to “normalcy’ in our lives for which we have been yearning.

Best wishes for a happy and safe holiday season for you and your families.