MIAMI (AP) — Health authorities reported the highest daily jump in COVID-19 cases ever detected in Florida on Thursday as the state known for attracting retirees grapples with overwhelming demand for the new vaccine among seniors.

The state’s Department of Health reported 17,192 new cases on the last day of 2020 and 133 new deaths, raising the toll to 21,857.

The case record comes amid the holiday season, when families have gathered and restaurants, businesses, zoos and museums have seen larger crowds despite the rising number of cases in recent weeks.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week that people 65 and older — more than 4 million of Florida's 21 million population — would be prioritized over essential workers to receive the vaccine. This week, hospitals and health departments have been struggling to keep up with the demand.

People have clogged hotlines to book appointments, and some seniors have camped out overnight outside vaccination sites, leading some hospitals to hit pause on scheduling further shots.

Traffic stretched nearly half a mile from the Health Department’s headquarters near the St. Johns County municipal complex in St. Augustine and continued along the southbound shoulder of the highway. Some people there said they had to wait for hours to get the shot.

DeSantis has begged for patience from anxious seniors, saying the vaccine is still in limited supply. But the top state official overseeing the vaccine distribution also acknowledged the systems set up for vaccine distribution in the state “aren’t meeting the moment.”

Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel that the state has directed distribution of about 700,000 dosages of the cocktail, but only about a quarter of those have been used so far.

“That tells me there are vaccines sitting in freezers … we want all of our partners to know it’s their jobs to get the vaccine out there,” Moskowitz said.

Moskowitz also expressed frustration with the federal government for sending limited information on the amount of doses that will be sent, which has complicated state planning. And he said the contract the federal government has with drug store chains to innoculate residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities “has been a mediocre experience.”

As the vaccines continue to be in high demand but limited quantities, COVID-19 hospitalizations are still rising. The state’s hospital bed census tallied 6,352 coronavirus patients by late morning on Thursday, a slight increase from Wednesday’s figure of 6,331, but much larger than the daily totals in October.

María Elvira Salazar, a Republican who defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala in November, learned she was infected with the virus during an emergency trip to the hospital for treatment of heart arrhythmia.

Salazar was treated, released and will quarantine for at least 14 days and miss the swearing in ceremony of the 117th Congress in Washington on Sunday, her office announced Thursday.

In a tweet, Salazar said: “I am in quarantine at home & getting better each day. I look forward to hitting the ground running for my community, once it is medically permissible.”

Other members of Miami’s new congressional delegation have already contracted COVID-19, including Congressman-elect Carlos Gimenez and U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.

Luke Letlow, an incoming Republican congressman from Louisiana, died of complications of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

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