About the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID graphs as of January 1, 2021.)

The coronavirus pandemic has affected all aspects of our lives, and club social activities are no exception. We continue to monitor the situation for current Florida-specific information and are taking action to adjust to this new reality. 

As social interactions resume, considerate and responsible individuals should maintain practical, yet sensible, social distancing actions as part of the new "normal." This requirement will likely remain for many months.

Virtual Activities

In the meantime, until we resume conventional in-person social events, we continue to host virtual activities and video conferencing to exchange Tesla and club-related information.

These events are a lot of fun and involve sharing Tesla experiences and information in a casual and relaxed atmosphere.

I remain in communication with Tesla Corporate and local Tesla leaders. We continue to work with Tesla to host Virtual events. 

These Virtual Meetups will be open to club members only. If you are not a member and would like to join us for virtual activities, please click on the Join Us link above.

In-Car Activities

We continue to organize In-Car activities. These activities involve meeting for parades, scenic drives, race track events, etc. Participants remain in their cars during most of the events and wear face masks with strict social distancing to maintain safety.

Outdoor Activities

In September, we started Outdoor activities with strict COVID-19 protocols in place. Click on the Events menu item to view them.

When Will We Resume Conventional In-Person Social Activities?

As we mentioned, we resumed "in-person" Outdoor activities in September. These activities require wearing face masks and strict observance of social distancing requirements. There will be no indoor group activities, and group social interactions will be severely limited.

We don't expect to resume indoor activities until sometime next year at the earliest. Conventional In-person interactions without some form of COVID-19 measures, realistically, may not happen until 2022, even with vaccines.

Vaccine News:

National

Summary: (As of December 30, 2020.)

The Federal Government had hoped to have vaccinated 20,000,000 Americans by the end of 2020. As of December 30, 2020, 12.4 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been distributed to the states and only 2.8 million people received their first dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Federal health officials said in a news conference on December 30, 2020,  that they did not have a clear understanding as to why only a fraction of the doses that had shipped have not been administered. If this slow rollout were to persist it would take several years to inoculate the population at the current rate. 

Florida is the third U.S. state to announce it has a case of the more contagious coronavirus strain that first emerged in the United Kingdom.  The strain is 50 to 70% more transmissible when face masks and social distancing are not being practiced.  There is no evidence to suggest the variant is more deadly, or impervious to the vaccines that are being administered.

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Developments

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have received Emergency Use Authorization and began to distribute their vaccines in December 2020.

The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was close to asking for FDA approval in December. However, dosage mistakes made that impossible for USA approval even though the United Kingdom has recently approved this vaccine.  

At a press conference on December 14, 2020, the chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed said that the first efficacy readout of AstraZeneca's vaccine could come in the second half of January. He estimated the company could potentially file for emergency use later in February.

He also stated that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, which would require a single dose, could also be reviewed by the FDA in late January for emergency use authorization.

Each vaccine has different storage and transportation requirements. Pfizer has the most stringent temperature storage requirements. Oxford/AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson can be stored in standard refrigerators and have the least strict requirements. Moderna falls in between. Many billions of dosages will have to be produced and distributed. In addition, at least 70% of the United States population will have to agree to take it for adequate herd immunity to be achieved.

On December 26, 2020, the New York Times reported:

In polls by Gallop,  the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Research Center, the portion of people saying they are now likely or certain to take the vaccine has grown from about 50 percent this summer to more than 60 percent, and in one poll 73 percent — a figure that approaches what some public health experts say would be sufficient for herd immunity.

Of course, the pandemic is global, and it is not sufficient to merely adequately vaccinate Americans. To resume conventional interpersonal relations in the USA with minimal risk of new outbreaks will require a global solution. According to Bill Gates, an expert in this area, with distribution of the vaccines, infections may start to abate by June 2021, but it is likely, that the resumption of conventional interpersonal relations will not occur until sometime in 2022. 

Florida Vaccination Plan

Summary (As of January 9, 2020.)

According to the CDC as of January 9, 2020, 1,355,775 dosages were distributed to Florida, and 402,802 vaccinations were given. So, 30% of number distributed were administered and 1.9% of the Florida population have been inoculated.

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Developments

On December 23, 2020, Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 20-315. It prioritizes the first phase of vaccinations as:

Hospital providers, however, also may vaccinate persons who they deem to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19.

According to the New York Times, as of December 30, 2020, Florida was allocated a total of 1,218,300 doses from the federal government. 783,600 dosages were distributed to Florida, and 176,729 vaccinations were given.

Florida health records, show 80% of the vaccinations were given to persons under 65. The number 65 and over is expected to increase as more vaccines are distributed.

The governor said he expects Florida to get between one and a half to two million doses in January. He estimated that vaccines might become available in February for Florida's general population. He says the choice to take the vaccine will be optional in Florida.

COVID-19 Home Testing

On December 15, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first over-the-counter (OTC) fully at-home diagnostic test for COVID-19. The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test.

• This is the first coronavirus test that can run at home without the need for a prescription.
• People as young as 2 years old are cleared to use the test, which takes just 15 to 20 minutes to deliver a result.
• The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test correctly identified 96% of positive samples and 100% of negative samples in individuals with symptoms. In people without symptoms, the test correctly identified 91% of positive samples and 96% of negative samples.
• Bella Zabinofsky, a spokeswoman for the Elume, stated that each kit is expected to cost about $30 or less.
• The Home Test uses an analyzer that connects with a software application on a smartphone to help users perform the test and interpret results.
• In an interview, Ellume chief executive Sean Parsons said supply initially will be limited to 100,000, with plans to increase manufacturing to 1 million by the middle of next year.
• The company will be announcing a partnership with a major retailer — such as Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart — to sell the test and create policies that would prevent hoarding by consumers.
• The test’s price and limited availability may restrict it from frequent use.
  

The following are Graphs and Analysis.

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