Coral Springs Approaches 10,000 Covid-19 Cases As Officials Ramp Up Vaccinations

CORAL SPRINGS, FL – As Coral Springs approaches 10,000 cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, city officials are gearing up efforts to vaccinate residents, especially the most vulnerable.

As of Monday, the city had 9,646 cases, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The 10,000th case in Coral Springs is likely to be recorded later this week or early next week.

At that point, Coral Springs will be one of 30 cities in Florida to hit the milestone, based on state health data.

It will be the fifth city in Broward County to reach 10,000 cases.

City officials encourage residents to continue taking precautions to lessen the spread of the virus. They also stress the work being done to ramp up vaccinations in Coral Springs and across the region.

A vaccination site at Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs, which the city of Coral Springs helped open and staff, is expected to administer more than 10,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the week, officials said.

In addition, city officials, working with Cleveland Clinic and state health workers, are bringing vaccines to senior living communities across Coral Springs.

Also, as early as this week, city workers will operate temporary “pop-up” vaccination sites, starting at Lions Park on Riverside Drive to inoculate residents 65 and older in that area who will be pre-selected by social workers, victim advocates, and clergy leaders.

“It is important to be hopeful that the vaccine will be applied and its effectiveness will be so great that we will start to see an end to this pandemic,” Mayor Scott Brook said.

Meanwhile, two free Covid-19 testing sites continue operating in Coral Springs, administering 2,000 tests daily, city officials said.

The virus is showing no signs of winding down as it continues spreading locally and across Florida, although slightly less in recent weeks.

New cases in Broward (173,652 cases as of Monday) and Florida (1,727,107 cases as of Monday) were surging at the start of January with few new government restrictions set up to reduce the spread.

Despite concerns over the spread of Covid-19, community leaders said they have seen a lot of generosity from local residents who have stepped up donations and volunteering to help those hit the hardest by the financial crisis caused by the pandemic.

“This is a sad milestone,” said Rabbi Avraham Friedman, executive director of Chabad of Coral Springs, which organizes weekly food distributions that thousands of people rely on for basic food essentials.

“But there’s been a lot of action and goodwill that is drawing blessing for good health and the eventual end of this pandemic,” he said.