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The second week of COVID-19 vaccinations in Lee County got underway Tuesday morning, a day after a new reservation system was used to avoid the long lines that plagued the county’s first week of inoculations.

FDOH-Lee said the line Tuesday morning was moving quickly, with 1,000 doses of the vaccine expected to be given to those 65 and older, as well as frontline health care workers.

Those who were lucky enough to score an appointment Monday were told to arrive 45 minutes early, and FDOH-Lee said people were doing just that. No one was camping out and no one arrived early, which were issues seen last week when vaccinations got underway and appointments weren’t being taken.

The people fortunate enough to get an appointment for Tuesday said getting the shot is like winning a lottery jackpot.

“I could’ve run in here and I can’t run. I’m just excited,” said Barbara Caroselli. “I told him it was like when we were younger and wanted to get concert tickets. You’d call the radio station and hope like hell that you win.”

Barbara and husband John’s third try to get the vaccine proved to be the charm. Twice they sat in line for hours but left because they couldn’t handle it.

“At first we couldn’t believe it. That anybody could set something up like this,” John said.

“The county and people in charge listened to what other folks had to say and fixed the problem,” Barbara said.

Fixed, in their opinion, because unlike tens of thousands of people just like them, they got through on the phone and made their appointments. They say they’re buying more time.

“Pushing 80 years old, high-risk group, we’d like to be around a little longer to hang with the grandchildren, you know, enjoy life,” John said.

It was a feeling shared by so many people at the site.

“I miss my grandkids,” Barbara said. “They live just five blocks away but they go to school, they have to work, so I can’t see them, I can’t hug them, hold them. So, you know, the phone, FaceTime, but that’s all.”

The Carosellis said the first thing they’ll do once they get that second dose is give their grandkids a big hug. The second thing: go out for some nice Italian food.

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An endangered Florida panther has died after being struck by a vehicle in south Fort Myers.

It’s the first panther death reported in the new year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A total of 22 Florida panther deaths were reported in 2020, with 19 killed by vehicles.

The remains of the 3-year-old female panther were found Saturday on Terminal Access Road, a divided highway that leads to Southwest Florida International Airport, wildlife officials said.

A second panther was killed by a vehicle Jan. 4 in Collier County on SR-29.

Florida panthers once roamed the entire Southeast, but now their habitat mostly is confined to a small region of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. Up to 230 Florida panthers remain in the wild.

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An average of 50,000 of you flooded phone lines in just one minute to try getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Lee County. We know the demand is high, and many of you still have a lot of questions.

The most frequently asked question: Where and when will I get my second dose?

You’ll have a different wait time depending on the vaccine. Moderna’s is 28 days, Pfizer’s is 21. And the Florida Department of Health in Lee County says its game plan is to keep these vaccination sites, and their clinics, the same.

Tuesday will be used as a trial run for Lee County’s first appointment-only vaccination site.
Monday gave us a glimpse of how many people are anxious to claim their spot in line. When the phone lines opened, the county says 84,000 people dialed per minute at peak traffic. Some of you got a busy signal, some of you got through and others simply gave up.

The county knows this can be frustrating, but the key here is getting more vaccines, something expected to happen as soon as this week. When it does, more appointments will become available, and you’ll have to pick up the phone and try again.

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Georgians cast high-stakes final votes Tuesday in elections to determine the balance of power in the new Congress, deciding Senate runoff elections sure to shape President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to enact what could be the most progressive governing agenda in generations.

Republicans were unified against Biden’s plans for health care, environmental protection and civil rights, but some feared that outgoing President Donald Trump’s brazen attempts to undermine the integrity of the nation’s voting systems might discourage voters in Georgia.

Watch CBS News live coverage in the player below or click here:

State election officials reported light turnout Tuesday morning, including in the deeply conservative northwest region where Trump held a rally Monday night to encourage GOP voters to turn out in force. There were virtually no lines at polling sites statewide, with voters waiting only about five minutes to cast ballots, said Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs.

More than 3 million Georgians had voted early either by mail or during in-person voting in December. The robust early turnout was expected to benefit Democrats, as it helped Biden in November become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992.

“This is history unfolding in Georgia right now,” Jon Ossoff, one of Georgia’s two Democratic challengers, told reporters outside an Atlanta polling site.

Republicans were counting on a big turnout Tuesday to boost their chances.

“You’ve got to swarm it tomorrow,” Trump told thousands of cheering supporters Monday night, downplaying the threat of fraud even as he repeatedly declared that the November elections were plagued by cheating that Republican officials, including his former attorney general and Georgia’s elections chief, say did not occur.

Democrats must win both of the state’s Senate elections to gain the Senate majority. In that scenario, the Senate would be equally divided 50-50 with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaker for Democrats.

The Democrats secured a narrow House majority and the White House during November’s general election.

One contest featured Democrat Raphael Warnock, who serves as the senior pastor of the Atlanta church where slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. grew up and preached. The 51-year-old Warnock was raised in public housing and spent most of his adult life preaching in Baptist churches.

Warnock was facing Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a 50-year-old former businesswoman who was appointed to the Senate less than a year ago by the state’s Republican governor. She is only the second woman to represent Georgia in the Senate, although race has emerged as a campaign focus far more than gender. Loeffler and her allies have seized on some snippets of Warnock’s sermons at the historic Black church to cast him as extreme. Dozens of religious and civil rights leaders have pushed back.

The other election pitted 71-year-old former business executive David Perdue, who held the Senate seat until his term officially expired on Sunday, against Democrat Ossoff, a former congressional aide and journalist. At just 33 years old, Ossoff would be the Senate’s youngest member if elected. He first rose to national prominence in 2017 when he launched an unsuccessful House special election bid.

Georgia’s January elections, necessary because no Senate candidates received a majority of the general-election votes, have been unique for many reasons, not least because the contenders essentially ran as teams, even campaigning together sometimes.

Even a closely divided Democratic Senate wouldn’t guarantee Biden everything he wants, given chamber rules that require 60 votes to move most major legislation. But if Democrats lose even one of Tuesday’s contests, Biden would have little shot for swift up-or-down votes on his most ambitious plans to expand government-backed health care coverage, strengthen the middle class, address racial inequality and combat climate change. A Republican-controlled Senate also would create a rougher path for Biden’s Cabinet picks and judicial nominees.

“Georgia, the whole nation is looking to you,” Biden declared at his own rally in Atlanta on Monday. “The power is literally in your hands.”

Despite fears among some Republicans that Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud could depress turnout, the two GOP candidates strongly support him. Perdue on Tuesday said that Trump would “of course” deserve credit if the Republicans won.

“What the president said last night is, even if you are upset about all of that, you’ve got to stand up with us and fight,” Perdue told “Fox & Friends.” “We’ll look back on this day if we don’t vote and really rue the day that we turned the keys to the kingdom over to the Democrats.”

Loeffler pledged Monday to join a small but growing number of GOP senators protesting Congress’ expected certification of Biden’s victory Wednesday.

Democrats have hammered Perdue and Loeffler, each among the Senate’s wealthiest members, for conspicuously timed personal stock trades after members of Congress received information about the public health and economic threats of COVID-19 as Trump and Republicans downplayed the pandemic. None of the trades has been found to violate the law or Senate ethics, but Warnock and Ossoff have cast the Republicans as self-interested and out of touch.

Perdue and Loeffler have answered by lambasting the Democrats as certain to to usher in a leftward lunge in national policy. Neither Warnock nor Ossoff is a socialist, as Republicans allege. They do, however, support Biden’s agenda.

This week’s elections mark the formal finale to the turbulent 2020 election season more than two months after the rest of the nation finished voting. The stakes have drawn nearly $500 million in campaign spending to a once solidly Republican state that now finds itself as the nation’s premier battleground.

The results also will help demonstrate whether the political coalition that fueled Biden’s victory was an anti-Trump anomaly or part of a new landscape.

Biden won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes by about 12,000 votes out of 5 million cast in November.

Democratic success will likely depend on driving a huge turnout of African Americans, young voters, college-educated voters and women, all groups that helped Biden win Georgia. Republicans, meanwhile, have been focused on energizing their own base of white men and voters beyond the core of metro Atlanta.

In downtown Atlanta, Henry Dave Chambliss, 67, voted for the two Republicans. He said he wants Republicans to keep Senate control to ensure the incoming Biden administration doesn’t slide “all the way to the left.”

“I’m moderately successful and I know they will come after more of my money which I’ve earned,” Chambliss said. “I was born a Southern Democrat, and I just hope and pray that some moderate voices are heard and things stay more in the middle of the road.”

Beverly McDaniel cast her ballot Tuesday morning amid light turnout at a neighborhood center’s gymnasium in Atlanta. She voted for both Democrats, saying she believes they would do better dealing with the hardships wrought by the coronavirus.

“Our kids are not fully, fully in school like they’re supposed to be and people don’t have jobs,” said McDaniel, a medical field worker. She said the virus “is taking over where we should have the government taking over instead.”

____

Bynum reported from Savannah. AP journalists Haleluya Hadero and Angie Wang contributed from Atlanta.

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New health care workers are coming to the job at a crucial time for public health.

At Lee Health, two college graduates are helping to vaccinate other health care workers. One of them is Natilee Azzara, who graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in pharmaceutical science and is a first-year Lee Health resident. She was a part of history two weeks ago, when she helped administer the first round of Pfizer vaccines in Lee County.

First she had to complete a 15 to 20 hour immunization course that’s been required since before COVID-19.

“I think it’s awesome to be helping out during the middle of this pandemic; I’m working with other healthcare providers to just be there for our community and be there for one another,” Azzara said. “I think I just confirmed that I’m in the right place and doing exactly what I should be doing.”

She was also given documents to read specific to the COVID-19 vaccine and the dilution process. Azzara says she’ll never forget this experience.

“It was a lot more nerve-racking than I thought it was going to be,” Azzara said. “There were tons of cameras, and it was just a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, but it was a really cool experience and it’s just light at the end of the tunnel for me, and we are almost through with COVID[-19].”

Azzara has received the vaccine herself. She’s also noticed more and more health care workers have become eager to get it as well.

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On Jan. 16, the family of Jakobe “Kobe” Washington will host a second bone marrow drive for the 8-year-old with leukemia.

It will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Oldsmar, near Tampa on the north side of Tampa Bay.

Read our story on the family’s previous Southwest Florida bone marrow drive.

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Highs will warm into the 60s and 70s again this afternoon with plentiful sunshine. Overall, our conditions will be similar to yesterday with a light breeze!

With a clear sky and minimal wind overnight, lows will dip into the 40s and 50s once again. In fact, parts of Southwest Florida are likely to be even colder!

Temperatures slowly increase by Thursday. This is all ahead of our next chance of rain along a cold front on Friday, which cools us down for the weekend!

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Those lucky enough to have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in Southwest Florida are just as concerned and worried about where and how they will be able to get their second dose.

Lee County plans to stick with an appointment system for the second dose, and says it’s still working on details.

In Collier County, you should expect an email 21 days after your first vaccine to get a second dose.

Charlotte County doesn’t anticipate anyone needing their second dose next week, but it hopes to have appointments available.

After waiting in a line for hours in Bonita Springs, Joan and Steven Goldman know they are two of the lucky ones.

“We were offered a ticket, and the ticket was for standby, and we didn’t know if we were going to get a vaccine or not, but we luckily did get it,” Joan said.

They traded in their golden ticket for a card with a date for their second dose Jan. 26, but there is no confirmed place, time or guarantee.

“It’s very anxiety producing because you don’t know that you’re going to get the second shot,” Steven said.

The Goldmans are not the only ones feeling so close but so far from immunity.

Sally Harrison-Pepper and Harry Scott both got their first doses at sites in Lee County. Both have underlying conditions, and both have a lot of concerns about not getting that second shot they need to be safe.

“What are we supposed to do?” Harrison-Pepper said. “Are we supposed to deal with a phone line like there was today, and for them to say, ‘Oh, sorry about your luck. You’re not getting the second dose?’”

“I am a cancer survivor, and I have other surgical issues,” Scott said. “Being one of the people that did get up there and stand in line, I’m happy that I have it. I’m just hoping I will be able to get the second one in the right time frame.”

Lee County says it’s exploring all options for the second dose of the vaccine, but there is no plan set in stone yet.

“We’re working out the logistics to determine the very best way to do that expeditiously and not mix first and second dose individuals together,” said Angela Smith with Florida Department of Health in Lee County.

DOH-Lee says it will continue to administer vaccines in community-based settings and in its clinics by appointment. The health department anticipates using some of the sites it already used for distribution. It says it will share the details for distribution of the second dose as soon as it’s finalized.

RESOURCE: WINK News is working by the minute on a daily basis to bring our coverage areas in Southwest Florida the latest COVID-19 vaccine information from the counties you live in.

Visit our COVID-19 vaccine schedules and information for SWFL story for rolling vaccine updates.

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.

In Collier County, people who had appointments to get the coronavirus vaccine waited in long lines to get the shot to start the week.

Florida Department of Health in Collier County also announced Monday it canceled COVID-19 testing for all sites, with the exception of one Thursday, so we looked at other options for people to still get tested during the week.

As waitlists fill up for the vaccine, Florida Department of Health in Collier County says its testing sites are taking a pause.

“Any distribution process they can come up with given the quantity and the need, I can live with it,” Gary Clayton said.

Clayton signed up for the waitlist to get his vaccine and says he’s OK with testing taking a backseat, believing vaccinations should be priority.

“If the symptoms are there, they will find a way to test,” Clayton said.

There is still testing available in Collier, but not done by the County.

Walgreens, CVS pharmacies and urgent care clinics are still offering testing by appointment.

“I would say, personally, people should still get tested if they feel sick,” Amanda Ebel said.

However, Ebel says it is a little worrisome to have the lack of testing in the area.

“I’m a teacher, so it worries me for the fact students are coming in,” she said. “And I don’t want them to get sick and then give it to us, and we get sick. That’s my concern.”

Ebel and Clayton both question if the testing sites closing will affect the COVID-19 numbers.

“If you don’t get tested, you can’t prove that you have it,” Ebel said.

“Mathematically, the answer would be yes, but you still have the issue of the symptomatic people, so,” Clayton said.

The only County COVID-19 test site in Collier will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at North Collier Regional Park.

RESOURCE: WINK News is working by the minute on a daily basis to bring our coverage areas in Southwest Florida the latest COVID-19 vaccine information from the counties you live in.

Visit our COVID-19 vaccine schedules and information for SWFL story for rolling vaccine updates.

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.

For those who scheduled appointments in Lee County, vaccines will be administered again starting Tuesday.

Alan Aeschliman will be one of the 5,000 people to sit in tents to get his first shot for COVID-19 in the next few days, but thousands more aren’t so lucky. Many are still waiting to find out if they’ll be in Aeschliman’s shoes. He says the vaccine will give him a shot at a normal life again after being cooped up for nearly a year.

“We still have our plans to go in the middle of this month to go up to Indiana to surprise our oldest granddaughter, 8-year-old granddaughter on her birthday,” Aeschliman said.

Aeschliman only had to call once, and he spoke to a real person and got an appointment.

But many, many people shared Samuel Leone’s pain.

“I called over 120 times and I got through twice, and they hung up on me both times,” Leone said. “Your hopes are all there and then click.”

Or there are people, such as Brenda and Michael Newman, who are waiting all night.

“We’ve been kind of in prison for the last five or so hours waiting on a call back, which hasn’t happened yet,” Michael said.

Monday’s effort to schedule appointments for the vaccine in Lee County left thousands frustrated.

“If anything is annoying it’s just waiting on this phone call to come back, or maybe who knows? Maybe it will never happen,” Michael said.

“I wanna be done with this and get the vaccine, so I was very disappointed,” Leone said. “I was disappointed that they had eight months to figure this out, and it seems like they haven’t figured it out.”

The people we spoke to told us it seems like the only way out of the pandemic is through a shot in the arm, but they said getting to one of the tents to get vaccinated has been nearly impossible.

RSW airport says there will be heavy traffic on the northside of the airport property near a vaccination site there Tuesday. It’s recommended to get there early.

RESOURCE: WINK News is working by the minute on a daily basis to bring our coverage areas in Southwest Florida the latest COVID-19 vaccine information from the counties you live in.

Visit our COVID-19 vaccine schedules and information for SWFL story for rolling vaccine updates.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.