20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta GordaLehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
ESTERO Crews battle brushfire near Alico Road and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
PUNTA GORDA 20th annual Hibiscus Festival begins in Punta Gorda The 20th annual Hibiscus Festival at Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda begins Friday morning and runs all weekend.
WINK NEWS Lehigh Acres senior caretaker accused of stealing over $70K of patients’ jewelry A senior caretaker has been arrested for allegedly stealing over $70,000 of her patients’ jewelry and pawning it.
Tim Aten Knows: Next phase of Restaurant Row Naples under way Construction of the final phase of Restaurant Row Naples was stalled for months because of financial issues but the three-building project was recently revived.
NAPLES Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s first Florida theater opens in Naples The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has now opened at the company’s first-ever Florida location at Mercato in Naples.
FORT MYERS Friday’s Furry Friends: Rhett, Tag For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Gulf Coast Humane Society to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
WINK NEWS Recall issued for ground beef sold with possible E. coli at Walmart The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a recall for several ground beef products distributed from Pennsylvania to Walmart’s nationwide.
The Weather Authority Hotter and more humid this Friday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a mild Friday morning with dry afternoon conditions and isolated storms appearing in the evening.
PUNTA GORDA ‘Party’s Over’: Dirt biking ends at Barefoot Lake The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has made it clear, the party at Barefoot Lake is over.
ESTERO Crews battle brushfire near Alico Road and Eagle Village Drive San Carlos Park Fire District is on the scene fighting a 2.5-acre brushfire near Alico and Eagle Village Drive.
FORT MYERS Jake’s story: A mother’s mission to share her son’s story and help other young people One Fort Myers mom is turning her pain into purpose after her son, who she refers to as her “heavenly Angel,” took his own life.
CAPE CORAL New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future The Cape Coral Yacht Club, which has been part of this community since the 1960s, will now have a new look after Hurricane Ian’s devastating effects.
LEHIGH ACRES Owner bars public from Barefoot Lake, LCSO installs Watch Tower Every weekend, roughly 200 people go to Barefoot Lake in Lehigh Acres to relax, fish, swim and have a good time.
CAPE CORAL Concern over water shortage in Cape Coral Concern is flowing through Cape Coral as neighbors are seeing their canal levels low and their wells run dry.
FORT MYERS FSW softball swinging for success in the postseason Now their focus shifts to states which means the newbies are looking to the experienced sophomores for advice.
BONITA SPRINGS Young SWFL tennis player competing with professionals You may not know her name now, but you might want remember it because 16-year-old Cookie Jarvis-Tredgett is already competing with professionals.
CDC/Center for Disease Control. Photo via WINK News A change in vaccine guidance is coming from the top. In rare cases, the CDC says the two currently approved mRNA coronavirus vaccines can be used interchangeably. But this doesn’t mean people should seek to get a different manufacturer’s vaccine from their first administered dose. If you can get two doses of the same vaccine, that’s the optimal pathway to completing the vaccine process. “There may be some folks, especially snowbirds in our area, that are getting a vaccine here, going back home to complete their series or something like that, and may run into a situation where Moderna may not be available, but Pfizer is,” explained Jospeh Pepe, the administrator for Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County. Despite the new guidance, for some in Southwest Florida, getting the same vaccine for the first and second doses is still the only option they’ll accept. “We finally wound up being successful with the Lee County system after 249 calls in a row,” Howard Futterman said. That was just scheduling the first dose for Futterman. Futterman is now among one of thousands of Southwest Florida seniors waiting for his second dose, and he has new concerns. “We had a lot of concern about whether they would have the supply,” Futterman said. New CDC guidance answers both concerns. The update says — in exceptional situations — you can mix and match doses. Also, if there’s no way around it, you can schedule your second dose up to six weeks after your first. You might be asking, when it comes to mixing and matching doses, what is an exceptional situation? The CDC says it’s either when you don’t know which version you had first, or that version is unavailable. Reactions to the new rules are mixed. “Ideally, that scenario is to give people the vaccine that they started with the same manufacturer. So we’ve been sticking to that. I think, if we get into a bind, certainly the CDC guidance is what we’re going to follow,” Pepe said. “At the very least, it just gives us more options.” “When Moderna and Pfizer did their clinical studies upon which they were approved, it was based on the waiting periods of either 21 or 28 days depending on whether it’s Pfizer or Moderna, and for the CDC to arbitrarily say, ‘Well, guess what? You can wait a month or two.’ I think that’s got no basis in science and I don’t believe it,” Futterman said. “It creates a lot of anxiety for the people who took the second shot as to whether they’re going to get it when they’re supposed to get it.” Researchers, including Dr. Kartik Cherabuddi with UF Health, work to calm those concerns. “If you look under the hood, both mRNA vaccines function the same way. I am not truly concerned about the safety in this scenario,” Cherabuddi explained. “If you don’t have the same kind of vaccine, I would just stress take the other vaccine as well, rather than forgo it completely.” MORE: Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Authorized in the United States