Community Corner
How Is Florida Doing On Getting COVID Vaccines To Residents? Just Slightly Below Average
Florida's efforts to get millions of people vaccinated for COVID-19 is slightly below average, according to the most recent data.
By Diane Rado
February 5, 2021
Find out what's happening in Across Floridafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Florida’s efforts to get millions of people vaccinated for COVID-19 is slightly below average, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Phoenix analysis shows that Florida is at 60.78 percent — meaning the number of shots administered (2,223,754) to people compared to the number of vaccine doses distributed (3,658,975) to the state.
Find out what's happening in Across Floridafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
So how does Florida compare? It ranks 27th of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. (The average of the 50 states and DC is at 61.55%.)
Getting vaccines to people is becoming more important given that COVID-19 has been mutating, spreading new, more transmissible strains in two-thirds of states nationwide. Florida has the largest number of so-called variant cases in the country.
Looking only at the biggest 10 states, those with the highest number of vaccine doses distributed to states, Florida ranks right in the middle.
Here’s what those top 10 states look like in terms of doses distributed to states compared to getting shots to residents:
Texas: 66.28%
Michigan: 66.02%
North Carolina: 61.99%
New York: 61%
Florida: 60.78%
Georgia: 59.78%
Ohio: 59.38%
California: 57.84%
Illinois: 57.39%
Pennsylvania: 55.30%
You can look at the CDC’s vaccine map here.
The CDC will continue to report the vaccine numbers, so the figures will change.
As to the new strains of COVID-19, the CDC reported Thursday evening that the United-Kingdom strain, called B.1.1.7, is now at 611 cases in 33 states. Florida has the highest number of cases in the nation, 187.
The CDC is tracking two other strains with a few cases, but thus far neither are in Florida.
The cases identified are based on a sampling and do not represent the total number of B.1.1.7 (United Kingdom), B.1.351 (South Africa), and P.1 (Brazil) cases that may be circulating in the United States, according to the CDC.
This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.