ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — As health officials warn Floridians to wear masks and social distance to stop the spread of coronavirus, they’re also working to get ahead of future cases through vaccinations.  

Leaders in Orange County say they’re now vaccinating thousands of people daily but stress it’s just not enough to meet the demand. 

On Saturday, the Florida Department of Health in Orange County announced it is pausing online vaccination signups after seeing such an overwhelming response from the community. Right now, they have more than 73,000 appointments. 

“Please be patient, we will get to you. We are going to increase volume. The availability of vaccines is rapidly increasing and the state has assured us that if we can move vaccines, they will continue to send them to us," said Dr. Raul Pino, Director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. 

So far, more than 11,000 people have been vaccinated at the Orange County Convention Center. Across Orange County, more than 35,000 people have now been vaccinated - that’s 2.9-percent of the county population.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said they’re asking residents to be patient about the signup process, stressing they’re at the mercy of the state and federal government when it comes to supply.

"The demand for the vaccine far exceeds the availability of the vaccine that we have here within our community. As the state gets more, we will get more and we then have the plans and a process to quickly inoculate people within our community,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. 

The county is able to vaccinate at a more rapid pace if supply from the state and federal government allows, according to Demings, having bought freezers to house hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccine if and when that time arrives.

Orange County has requested an additional 20,000 doses of Moderna and 20,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines from the state, those could arrive as early as this week.