Hillsborough County’s vaccination phone line was receiving an estimated 2,000 phone calls per minute at midday, a spokeswoman said. Websites and phone lines were down for hours.

Similar issues have been reported across the state as Gov. Ron DeSantis pressures hospitals — already tasked with administering shots to health care workers and caring for a surging number of coronavirus patients — to play a bigger role in vaccinating the general public.

Experts have called instead for more coordination from the state and local health departments. “There’s just too many people that have to be vaccinated,” Mary Jo Trepka, an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor at Florida International University told the Miami Herald.

Monday’s chaos built on the confusion that’s surrounded Florida’s vaccine rollout over the last month. DeSantis’ executive order on Dec. 23 said people 65 and older would be the first among the general public to receive vaccines, after health care workers and long-term care residents. But many are still unsure how to access them and can’t seem to find answers.

TAMPA— Packed New Year’s Eve celebrations raged across the Tampa Bay area on the same day that Florida broke its coronavirus caseload record with more than 17,000 cases added in one day.

Administrations and agencies on both sides of the bay had encouraged residents to celebrate safely. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor tweeted advice to stay home from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The City of St. Petersburg told residents on Twitter: “Celebrating NYE virtually or with members of your own household (who are consistently taking measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19) poses the lowest risk for spread.”

But crowds gathered in Ybor City, Channelside, St. Petersburg and at other local bars for partying that looked almost pre-coronavirus — with few masks and little social distancing in sight.

Crowds danced shoulder to shoulder to pounding music outside the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Tampa. Party-goers poured onto the street as Ybor City clubs closed at 2:30 a.m.