Florida ranks 39th in the country for COVID-19 vaccine distribution

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — According to information gathered from the CDC’s data tracker, Florida is ranked 39th in the nation for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Florida is often compared to the largest states in the U.S., and right now, California ranks just ahead of the Sunshine State at 38.

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But New York is up at 19 and Texas is 12.

Utah comes in first with how quickly it’s getting doses into the arms of its people.

Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul said the reason Florida is ranked so low could be because of the size of the state’s population and the fact that Florida is holding back second doses while some other states are not.

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“I don’t know if that’s the case, but that’s what happened to us and could be a reflection on what is happening across the state,” Pino said. “Because we are one system, so it’s an entire inventory for the entire state.”

Data shows Florida has been given 4.2 million doses of the vaccine, but only 2.7 million have been administered, which is about 65%.

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But in comparison, Utah has far fewer doses and 96% have already made it into arms.

Pino said he has an inventory of 30,000 doses in Orange County for appointments over the next three weeks.

But Mayor Jerry Demings said the federal government plans to send more doses directly to local health centers soon, each of which would be able to vaccinate about 250 people a day.

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“They’re doing that in an effort to improve access to minority communities,” Demings said.

He said the health centers, which tend to be located in minority communities, must be federally qualified.