SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Officials are stressing the importance of getting young people vaccinated as Seminole County leaders report that age group is being hospitalized at an alarming rate.
Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris said they’re doing what they can to get young people vaccinated. They’re making it as easy as possible, including recently opening mobile vaccination sites at Seminole State College and Winter Springs High School.
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“You put it at Seminole State College, you put it at a high school it’s much, much more convenient for individuals when they get out of school to go over and get their shot real quick before they go home,” Harris said.
The push for younger people to get the shot comes as Harris said hospitalizations in this age group are rising at an alarming rate in Seminole County.
“They’re all showing a slight increase in the hospitalization. They are saying that it’s mostly younger age brackets,” Harris said.
It’s a similar trend doctors with AdventHealth said they’re seeing in the hospital system. Dr. Eduardo Oliveria with AdventHealth spoke about this during Thursday’s Morning Briefing.
“We’ve seen a significant increase as compared to prior waves on younger patients being admitted to the hospital. I’d say the average age now is around 50-year-old, 45 to 50 years old,” Oliveria said. “But we have patients anywhere from 23 years old to 75 tears old being admitted to our hospitals.”
According to the latest health department vaccination report, 16 to 24-year-olds make up only 5% of people in the state who have received at least one shot.
“The younger population being vaccinated that will be very hard to achieve except through infection, but we don’t want that,” Oliveria said. “We want people to be vaccinated and that is concerning and we have to continue to push the importance of vaccination.”
Harris said the county is holding another mobile vaccination event on Friday and Saturday at Seminole State College. Harris said all of the appointments are booked.
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