ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the state’s vaccine rollout plan during a news conference in South Florida.
“We are getting close to having vaccinated 20% of the 65 and up. I think we hit 18% this morning, so of the 4.5 million seniors, we’re closing in on 20%,” DeSantis said.
According to the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine data, Florida is ranked third in the country in total vaccines administered behind California and Texas.
The CDC reports Florida has administered more than 5,700 doses per 100,000 people, putting Florida ahead of California, Texas, and New York.
University of South Florida Public Health professor Dr. Jay Wolfson weighed in on the data.
“We’re doing better than in some respects than other states but that’s not saying a lot because most states are having difficulty. We don’t have enough product,” Wolfson said.
Wolfson said all states are facing the same problem: there isn’t enough vaccine being produced.
“I’m going to say we’re less bad than other states. All of the states are having challenges getting access to products and having a state plan,” he said.
According to data from the Florida Department of Health, as of Friday the top five counties with the most vaccinations are Miami-Dade with 137,954 total people vaccinated, Palm Beach with 106,115 total people vaccinated, Broward with 105,958 total people vaccinated, Orange with 66,381 total people vaccinated, and Duval with 59,033 total people vaccinated.
Miami-Dade is reporting more than double the amount of total people vaccinated compared to Orange.
Wolfson said there is a reason why the south Florida counties have the most vaccinations.
“Those are the counties that have had the highest numbers of cases and the highest numbers of deaths and hospitalizations. You focus it there,” he said.
In Central Florida, Orange County leads the way in vaccinations.
Wolfson said there is still a lot of work to do.
“We have a long way to go before we can figure out how to best manage it,” he said.