The COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Florida. When can you get it and where?

Healthcare workers and residents at long-term care facilities in Florida will be rolling up their sleeves to get their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week. First up for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are healthcare workers at five Florida hospitals, two of which are in South Florida: Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade County, Memorial Healthcare System in southern Broward County, Tampa General Hospital, AdventHealth Orlando and UF Health Jacksonville. [Source: Miami Herald]

See also:
» Florida getting half the doses expected, second dose coming later
» Florida’s Senate president gets COVID-19
» As COVID vaccines head to Florida, long-term care facilities finalize their rollout plans

Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida Icon: Richard Lapchick

The director of the DeVos Sport Business Management program at UCF talks about his involvement in fighting for racial equality, among other things: “In the mid-1970s, I was leading the sports boycott of South Africa in the United States. Most of the European countries no longer would compete with South Africa because of apartheid. In 1978, South Africa sent its Davis Cup team to play in Nashville, Tenn. My role — as the chair of the coalition of groups that had come together to boycott South Africa — was to go there and try to get the matches canceled." [Source: Florida Trend]

How and when will Orlando, the theme park capital of the world, recover from 2020?

The year 2020 brought images of Orlando never seen before. Interstate 4, the eternally traffic-clogged gateway to the theme parks, was quiet. The Magic Kingdom, the world’s busiest park, was empty for months, a happy place that previously had shut down for just a day or two for hurricanes or other emergencies. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to recede in 2021 as vaccines become available. But restarting Orlando’s tourism machine will be a monumental task, and experts don’t agree on how much longer the region and its hundreds of thousands of industry workers will suffer. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Florida is the Grinch when it comes to Christmas spirit, study shows

Holiday cheer is in the air, but you may not be able to see, feel or smell it here in Florida. That’s because the Sunshine State is apparently a lump of coal, ranking dead last among all the states for Christmas spirit, at least according to one study by GetCenturyLink.com. This is the third year that website did this report, and Florida dropped from No. 47 last year to 50th in 2020. [Source: WPLG]

Gasoline prices in Florida dropped during quiet week in fuel market

After a 2-month high, gasoline prices in Florida dropped by 2 cents last week as the industry tries to predict what effect rising coronavirus cases could have on the market. The average price of gas in the Sunshine State last week was $2.14. Tallahassee is among the least expensive regional markets with gas prices averaging $2.08 a gallon. For weeks, the ups and downs in the oil market clung to the coming approval of a COVID-19 vaccine, which happened late last week. [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]

11th annual Cade Prize announces winning innovations from inventors and entrepreneurs in Alabama, Florida & Georgia

The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention is proud to announce the 2020 Cade Prize Winners: First Place Winner – Nutrivert for its livestock antibiotic replacement Second Place Winner – Redhill Scientific for its all-natural, non-polluting nitrogen fertilizer Third Place Winner – Adaptive Neural Systems Laboratory for its Neural-Enabled Prosthetic Hand System Fourth Place Winner – Covanos for its virtual cardiac catheterization Fifth Place Winner – VetGuardians for its zero-touch vital signs monitoring for veterinarians [Sponsored report]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Miller Electric Co. donates $1 million to United Way [Jacksonville Daily Record]
Jacksonville-based Miller Electric Co. donated $1 million to support United Way of Northeast Florida’s focus on race, equity and social justice. “Community is one of our core values at Miller Electric, and reinvesting in the communities where we work is part of our mission,” said Henry Brown, CEO of Miller Electric Co., in a news release. “We recognize race equity and social justice impacts almost every issue in our society and it will take a committed, long-term approach to make any significant change,” he said.

› Fort Myers insurance firm, after deal, projects 30% increase in business [Business Observer]
Iron Ridge Insurance Services has acquired Centennial Insurance Services, combining two Southwest Florida agencies. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Officials with Fort Myers-based Iron Ridge, according to a statement, say the deal will “significantly increase” it’s presence and work with condominium and homeowners associations. Centennial is also based in Fort Myers.

› Air Force sues Homestead, landowners, over agreement to build homes near base [Miami Herald]
A new legal fight has emerged, centered on the years-long controversy over landowners’ rights to develop residential property near the Homestead Air Reserve Base. For decades, the city has struggled to find a balance between property owners’ rights and safety concerns of the Homestead Air Reserve Base, which has been operating in Homestead since 1942.

› World’s tallest drop tower and slingshot rides coming to Central Florida [WFLA]
If you’re an adrenaline junkie seeking an experience more thrilling than the rides Disney and Universal can offer, another Orlando park is adding the world’s tallest slingshot and drop tower rides. By summer 2021, ICON Park will be home to the ICON Park Slingshot and the ICON Park Drop Tower, the world’s tallest rides of the sort.

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› Business group announces leadership slate for 2021 [Business Observer]
In a sure sign that finally, mercifully, 2020 is coming to a close, business groups are gathering to appoint new leadership for the coming year. One of those groups, the Tampa Bay Chamber, held its 135th annual meeting Dec. 10. It was a hybrid event, according to a press release, with some attendees meeting at the Tampa Convention Center and others joining virtually.

› DeSoto County migrant farm families lack basic digital access, from internet to devices [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The migrant farmer families who live at Casa San Juan Bosco in DeSoto County work year-round to put food on Floridians’ tables. Oranges, tomatoes and strawberries are the main produce they provide, and they do it for a median income of $18,000 a year. The affordable housing community, hosted by Catholic Charities, helps the 426 residents afford to live a sustainable life, even though they make low wages.

› UF student receives prestigious Guy Harvey award [Gainesville Sun]
Elizabeth Duermit -Moreau, a Ph.D candidate at the University of Florida, is one of two recipients of the 2020 Guy Harvey Ocean Scholarship Award, which comes with a $5,000 scholarship for each recipient. They also received a certificate designed and signed by the world-renowned marine wildlife artist, biologist and conservationist.

› Wynwood Walls is finally reopening, but soon you’ll have to pay to get in [Miami Herald]
Wynwood Walls, the heart and soul of Miami’s most colorful neighborhood, is finally reopening this week. When it does, it will not be the Wynwood Walls you remember. First, you’ll need to reserve a time and ticket online to stroll the mural-lined path. Starting in 2021, you will need to pay for that ticket.