“Vaccinations are increasing in Florida which is great and that has to continue,” said Dr. Jay Wolfson, professor of public health, medicine, and pharmacy at the University of South Florida Health.
Locally, health experts say they’re seeing some vaccination improvements in the 18-50 age group, which they consider to be one of the most at risk because that population has seen a rise in hospitalizations.
“Younger children are also being hospitalized but we don’t have the vaccine for them,” said Wolfson.
Researchers say they’re pleased to see the vaccination rate increase, but progress has been slow and there’s still a long way to go despite renewed efforts to get more people vaccinated for COVID-19 since the emergence of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Doctors say it’s important to continue to encourage people to get vaccines because although Florida’s seven-day average of cases has decreased, it still remains high at 13,122 cases.
Data show 58% of people ages 18-64 are now fully vaccinated, but more than 5.2 million people in that same age group are not, and that’s what health experts say is still very concerning.
“The goal is to get more people vaccinated so we can suppress the residual effects of the delta variant of the virus in unvaccinated populations,” said Wolfson.