ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The vaccination site at Barnett Park will soon be moving to Camping World Stadium in effort to free up traffic at the park, according to Orange County officials.
The site at Barnett Park has been seeing long lines for the last several weeks and reaching its daily capacity more frequently as cases continue to surge in the county and the state.
[TRENDING: Thousands of Fla. Unemployment accounts blocked | Parents of students sue DeSantis over mask mandate ban | 19-year-old charged with child porn ]
“As you are well aware of, the past few weeks we have seen heightened demand for testing and it is causing long lines at Barnett Park,” a spokesperson for the county told News 6 of the move to Camping World Stadium. “We do not wish to deter any residents who are wanting to get the vaccine and thus are in the process of transitioning our vaccine location to better serve our residents.”
During “The Weekly” with News 6 Morning Anchor Justin Warmoth, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said there has been a rise in vaccinations.
“The good news is that within the last couple of weeks we have seen an increase rate of vaccinations within our community,” Demings said.
Recently, the county opened another COVID-19 test site last week at the Econ Soccer Complex as the demand for testing grows. The new site was opened in an effort to relieve some the stress on Barnett Park’s site, according to Demings.
The rise in cases is also impacting the county’s economy, forcing at least four conferences or conventions to be canceled at the convention center.
“Between these four conventions alone, we are talking about approximately $43.9 million economic impact on our community,” Demings said during Thursday’s news conference.
The mayor recently reconvened the county’s Economic Recovery Task Force, which is made up of dozens of businesses with the goal of sharing ideas and best practices to stop the surge.
“To talk about what we need to do as a community to make certain that we remain open, but do so in the safest manner possible,” Demings said during “The Weekly.”
Dr. Raul Pino with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County said also said last week that more hospitalizations are expected that would ultimately lead to more deaths.
“We are suspecting there is going to be an increase in the coming weeks — maybe starting next week — on the number of deaths because we have not seen those yet from this recent increase that we are experiencing,” he said.
Demings ended his conversation on “The Weekly” by saying if everyone does their part, we can bring an end to the pandemic.
“What I’m optimistic about, I know that this crisis will pass. I know that if we listen to the experts and respond accordingly, if we mask up, if we get vaccinated, the crisis will be over sooner than later,” he said.
Demings is providing a COVID-19 update Monday at 11 a.m. where he will detail the Barnett Park vaccination site’s move to the stadium. News 6 will be streaming the update live.