Staffing shortages at a South Florida hospital amid the surge in COVID-19 cases has forced the shutdown of an entire department there.

Broward Health has been offering COVID-19 vaccines to members of the community, however, they announced Wednesday that they have reached capacity for vaccinations through February and are not currently taking any more appointments. The health system hopes to resume scheduling new appointments in the coming weeks. Eduardo Heighes, 67, showed up early Wednesday to Broward Health Medical Center for his coronavirus shot. He’s one of 5,000 people who are booked to get the vaccine at Broward Health. Like Broward Health, Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale was slammed with callers and stopped scheduling appointments for people outside its system, leaving folks in limbo.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale is now offering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare professionals who are not affiliated with the non-profit hospital after first inoculating its own frontline workers. According to a news release from the health system, the hospital received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine the week of Dec. 14. Healthcare workers not affiliated with Holy Cross, including dermatologists, pediatricians, veterinarians, mental health counselors and other frontline workers, stood in line early Monday morning to be vaccinated. “We had over 1,000 people here on Saturday,” said Kim Saiswick, Vice President of Community Health and Wellbeing at Holy Cross Health. Holy Cross asks that those who wish to be vaccinated and do not work in the healthcare industry check back with them in March 2021 for updates on when Holy Cross will begin providing the vaccine to the general public.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Holy Cross Health is recruiting patients for a clinical research study for a potential antibody treatment for COVID-19. Those eligible must have tested positive within three days of beginning the study and have one or more of these symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat, headache, muscle pain, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or shortness of breath when active. They are not looking for patients sick enough to have been hospitalized. Clinical trials like BLAZE-1 are vital in testing potential treatments for COVID-19 which, if successful, represent medicines which can be used to protect those most at risk of severe illness, such as the elderly and immunocompromised, said Dr. Joshua Purow, the studys principal investigator from Holy Cross Research Institutes. Holy Cross Health has been on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19, and we are honored to participate in this important, landmark study with Lilly to potentially bring effective COVID-19 treatment to the public faster.If you meet the qualifications and are interested in participating, call 833.277.0197 or visit JoinCOVIDStudy.com to learn more.