In less than a week, the COVID-19 vaccine will be fair game to all Floridians who are 18 and older, as well as teens who are 16 and 17 and receiving the Pfizer shot.
WPTV senior reporter Michelle Quesada on Tuesday took an in-depth look at data from the Florida Department of Health and U.S. Census Bureau to see how many people have already been vaccinated in our local counties.
TOTAL VACCINATIONS:
- Palm Beach County: 419,324 (28% of population)
- St. Lucie County: 77,435 (24% of population)
- Indian River County: 58,051 (42% of population)
- Martin County: 52,524 (33% of population)
- Okeechobee County 7,547 (18% of population)
Senior citizens ages 65 and older overwhelmingly represent the majority of Florida residents who have been vaccinated, as they have been eligible since late December.
65 AND OLDER VACCINATIONS:
- Palm Beach County: 270,372 (64% of total people vaccinated)
- St. Lucie County: 53,059 (69% of total people vaccinated)
- Indian River County: 44,276 (76% of total people vaccinated)
- Martin County: 38,574 (74% of total people vaccinated)
- Okeechobee County: 5,368 (71% of total people vaccinated)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been steadily lowering the age of eligibility over the last few weeks. Currently, all Floridians 40 and older can receive the vaccine. Here is a breakdown of the vaccination numbers for the 16 to 64 age range.
16 TO 64 VACCINATIONS:
- Palm Beach County: 148,952 (35% of total people vaccinated)
- St. Lucie County: 24,376 (31% of total people vaccinated)
- Martin County: 13,950 (26% of total people vaccinated)
- Indian River County: 13,775 (24% of total people vaccinated)
- Okeechobee County: 2,179 (29% of total people vaccinated)
"If we all get vaccinated, it will help move everything along quickly," said Greenacres resident Kevin Shore.
Shore works in the corporate event planning industry, which came to a standstill in March of 2020.
"It could be multiple events per month. I generally would travel about 150 to 200 days out of the year all around the country. Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami, certainly large convention hubs," Shore said.
Shore is in the 50 and older age group and already received his first COVID-19 vaccine.
He feels that getting the event industry up and running again will depend heavily on the younger age groups getting vaccinated.
"I would say certainly 30 and older would be a great time. That encompasses a lot of Fortune 500 companies, sales force, pharmaceutical industry, technology," Shore said.
Right now in Palm Beach County, people 25 to 44 years of age make up only 8% of the total number of people vaccinated so far. Residents 45 to 54 make up 8.5%.
Come April 5, when all Floridians 18 and older will be eligible, those percentages will certainly start to increase.
"There’s already been rumblings in my industry to book events towards Q3 and Q4, so hopefully that’s a good sign," Shore said.
To see the latest vaccination numbers from the Florida Department of Health, click here.
Floridians are encouraged to pre-register for the vaccine on a state-operated website by clicking here. You'll then be contacted when a vaccine appointment is available in your area.
You can currently receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida at Publix, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Sam's Club, and Winn-Dixie pharmacies, as well as at county and state-run sites and federally-operated vaccination locations in Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville.
Publix is currently booking appointments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting at 7 a.m. To book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at Publix, click here.
Appointments at CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Sam's Club, and Winn-Dixie can be made at any time.
To make an appointment at CVS, click here.
To make an appointment at Walgreens, click here.
To make an appointment at Walmart and Sam's Club, click here.
To make an appointment at Winn Dixie, click here.
The four federally-operated vaccination sites do not require an appointment. The closest in South Florida is at Miami-Dade College's North Campus, located at 11380 Northwest 27th Avenue in Miami. For more information about the federal vaccination sites, as well as additional state-run sites in our area, click here.
