Americans may be finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. More than a quarter of the county has been fully vaccinated, and more than 264 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered as of April 20 2021.
The demand for vaccine shots has begun to slow down in some parts of America. With plenty of vaccine supply on hand and eligibility open to all residents 16 and older, officials are struggled to fill appointments. A sizable portion of the population has what experts call “vaccine hesitancy.” As South Florida hits 40% immunization, the vaccinations are slowing down.
Experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, estimate somewhere between 70-85% of the country needs to be immune to the virus — either through inoculation or previous infection — to suppress its spread. But the US is nowhere near those levels yet and the slowing demand — especially now that eligibility has opened up — means getting there might be a taller task than some local officials expected. Cowards and Magats aint doin’ their part.
In Orange County, Mayor Jerry Demings said that vaccine supply is up, yet thousands of vaccine appointments are open. “Our goal is to still get up to that 79% of our population (vaccinated) and I believe we can get there,” Demings said. As of April 19, 2021, 30% of Orange County’s population is fully vaccinated. Orange County Florida health officials no longer have access to a critical statewide database that gives local decision-makers information including on COVID-19 vaccine distribution rates. The state revoked Orange County’s access to the Florida Department of Health database after the county turned over three heat maps as part of a public records request. The maps show vaccine distribution rates by zip code and do not disclose any exempt or personal information. WFTV was the first to report the state pulling access to the database. The maps show lower-income neighborhoods including Pine Hills have had fewer vaccines distributed than historically higher-income communities such as Winter Park. It is important to know which zip codes have low vaccination rates because those areas likely need better vaccine messaging due to hesitancy.
On April 19, 2021, President Joe Biden said in a Twitter video, “Folks, I have good news, everybody is eligible as of today to get the vaccine. We have enough of it, you need to be protected, and you need in turn to protect your neighbors and your family.”
“So please get the vaccine,” the president said.