On January 19, 2021, County Mayor Dave Kerner and Vice Mayor Weinroth provided an update at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on local COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Joining them were Commissioners Marino, Weiss, Sachs, McKinlay and Bernard, and also Darcy Davis, CEO of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, and Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County.

Tuesday marks Day 309 of Level 2 activation at the EOC. The mandatory facial coverings order for Palm Beach County has been extended to February 19.

Vaccinations – COVID-19 vaccine allotment and distribution are under the control of the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Palm Beach County area hospitals received separate allocations directly from the state and must be dispensed according to the governor's  Executive Order 20-315.

Vaccine supplies remain very limited; first phase priority populations are front-line healthcare workers; long-term care residents and staff; and those age 65 and older. To date, 90,409 individuals in Palm Beach County have received an initial dose of the vaccine, and 3,154 have completed their 2-dose series.

​ Publix - 67 Publix Supermarkets with pharmacies in Palm Beach County have been authorized to administer vaccines (up to 125 vaccinations per store per day) beginning on Thursday, January 21. Eligible individuals can sign up at www.publix.com/covidvaccine beginning Wednesday. You must have an appointment to be vaccinated. Palm Beach County is the state's first large urban county to have vaccine distribution by Publix.

Other locations – The governor has authorized the allocation of vaccines to residents of Kings Point in Delray Beach, Century Village in Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, and Leisureville in Boynton Beach. This past weekend, state incident management teams were at Wells Recreation Center in Riviera Beach and Tabernacle Missionary Baptist church in West Palm Beach.

Appointments – The Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County and the Health Care District of Palm Beach County are working together to vaccinate those with confirmed appointments from the Health Department's email list. Due to large amounts of email requests being received, the email address will be deactivated until those already in the system can be accommodated. At this time, we are only scheduling vaccination appointments for the individuals on the Palm Beach County Department of Health waiting list. As more vaccines become available, we will provide public information about scheduling your appointment.

Supply – With demand for the vaccine far exceeding supply, large-scale vaccination operations cannot be implemented in Palm Beach County at this time. As the vaccine supply increases over the next several months, efforts will be expanded to include regionally located vaccination centers, points of distribution, clinic operations, and mobile pop-up community sites. Please be patient and continue to wear a mask, even if you have been vaccinated.

Metrics – A total of 98,692 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Palm Beach County since the outbreak began last March, with 2,059 fatalities. Current daily positivity rate is 9.47%, slightly above the state rate of 8.97.

Town Hall – County officials will host a virtual Town Hall on Thursday evening (January 21) from 7-9 p.m. to address rumors and safety concerns that have been raised by the minority community about the COVID-19 vaccines. The Town Hall will be carried live on PBC-TV Channel 20. Spots to participate are limited. Registration is required.

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