Today marks the halfway point in President Biden’s efforts to vaccinate 100 million people during his first 100 days in office.
Biden is placing new importance on vaccinating educators to help schools reopen nationwide to in-person learning.
This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that K-12 personnel over the age of 50 will be among the next group of people to get vaccinated. This also includes high-risk Floridians under the age of 65, sworn law enforcement officers and firefighters.
On Wednesday, a new FEMA vaccination site opened at the Tampa Greyhound Track. The new site will be able to vaccinate 3,000 individuals per day.
With the recently FDA approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine now starting to be administered, as well as the continued rollout of the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the U.S. is expected to be on track to have enough doses to provide all adults nationwide with their first dose by the end of May.
Ybor bar suspension hearings resume Thursday
Tampa City Council will continue a hearing on Thursday to decide whether Purple Bar Heart Lounge and Grill violated COVID-19 safety protocols.
During a council meeting in February, code enforcement officials released photos showing crowds of unmasked bar-goers.
The hearing resulted in a tie between council members and outcries from bar owners about local government regulations pertaining to COVID-19.
Cities across Florida are blaming Gov. Ron DeSantis over confusion on how to safely mandate masks and fight overcrowding in popular public spaces.
Super Bowl city revenues down, small business finds profit
The economic boost from Super Bowl LV was not as great as the City of Tampa expected, but Davidoff of Geneva cigar shop in Westshore managed to profit, despite the pandemic.
A typical Super Bowl host city revenue measures between $100 to $300 million. With the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing measures in place, Tampa’s revenue is expected to be a third of that number.
Shop owner Jeff Borysewicz noticed a 47 percent increase in sales during the week of the Super Bowl. He created a limited supply of 2021 cigars to commemorate the Super Bowl in town which helped drive his profits.
Borysewicz is happy to be open and making money after closures in 2020.
Credits
Anchor: Emma Oliver
Reporters: James Birmingham, Courtney Patterson
Producer: Payton Kirol
Writer: Julio Martinez, Trevor Wymer
Graphics editor: Leonardo Santos
Video Editors: Julio Martinez, Trevor Wymer
Show Editors: Zheming Zhang, Ta’Bria Snowden, Payton Kirol
Videographer: Dylan Zuccarello
Associate Producer: Dylan Zuccarello
Web Editor: Niamh Larkin
Executive Producer: Brad Haft
Graduate Assistant: Emmanuel Maduneme
Faculty Adviser: Jeanette Abrahamsen, Wayne Garcia
