Half of eligible Orange County residents have had at least one COVID vaccine shot, Mayor says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Half of all eligible Orange County residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Mayor Jerry Demings said Friday.

That includes residents 16 years of age and older.

The announcement comes just one day after the Centers for Disease Control said people who have been fully vaccinated no longer have to wear masks.

READ: Low income, high minority Orange County ZIP codes fall behind in vaccination rates

Demings had previously announced he’d keep the county’s mask mandate in place until at least 70 percent of the population was vaccinated.

Despite that fact, Demings says he’s going along with the CDC’s new guidance, no longer requiring visitors and staff in public county buildings to wear masks if they’re vaccinated.

They’ll continue to require social distancing of three feet indoors.

Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino says the county is still averaging approximately 300 new COVID-19 cases each day, and has reported nine new deaths since Monday.

While Dr. Pino wants to make it known that the pandemic isn’t over, he says the data is trending in the right direction.

READ: Central Florida businesses, event organizers reevaluating mask requirements

The county’s 14-day rolling positivity rate is down to 5.7 percent, and has been falling more rapidly than health officials anticipated.

The biggest problem now, Dr. Pino says, is the 15 to 24 age group. He says in order to make a bigger impact on the pandemic, colleges and universities need to step up and entice students to get vaccinated.

Dr. Pino says that age group is where the bulk of the new cases are.

When asked what he expects to happen once most people start going without masks, Pino says there will likely be a small increase in cases, but having vaccines will make a difference.

“Immunization levels are high,” Dr. Pino says. “So even if we see cases, we’re trying- with high immunization rates- to avoid transmission so it won’t go person to person, and that’s where the vaccine comes into play.”

READ: Florida reports 3,500 new COVID-19 cases, 71 virus-related deaths

County officials also announced Friday free round-trip ACCESS LYNX rides for vulnerable seniors over the age of 60 to any of the four Orange County recreation center vaccination sites.

The free service will be available Monday through Friday beginning Monday. Click here for booking information.

Cox Media Group