LANTANA, Fla. — The latest figures show that COVID-19 vaccination rates are dropping in Florida.
The numbers are very telling from the Florida Department of Health. In Palm Beach County at the end of August, more than 10,000 people got a vaccine shot.
By the end of September, the number was just over 4,600.
WPTV on Monday spoke to a woman named Medre outside the Florida Department of Health center in Lantana where she received her first COVID-19 shot after weeks of resistance.
"I was between getting it or not getting it," Medre said. "There’s always a fear of the reactions, but we are seeing so many deaths and cases of COVID and I also have young children, so we have to take care of ourselves."
Medre was one of the few getting a shot here on Monday.
The numbers of those getting shots is quickly dropping, as Dr. Larry Bush of Wellington said.
"In Florida in the last several weeks, since the last week of August, every week the number of people getting vaccinated is decreasing," Bush said.
Since early September, the number of weekly vaccinations has dropped from over half a million to just over a quarter a million.
Bush said the decline may be for several reasons, including those still skeptical may be feeling better about monoclonal antibody treatments and other viral medications in the news.
"I clearly understand why people don’t want to get vaccinated. They feel the risk is small and they won’t get sick. We don’t know enough about the vaccine and all that is somewhat true, but what we do know is the people who have the highest risk of dying are those who aren’t vaccinated," Bush said.
And dr bush says the age group that has some of the highest unvaccinated rates is adults 18-30, which he says is also the group that is most socially active.