ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County’s supply of the COVID-19 vaccine is quickly outpacing the number of people showing up to get the shot, echoing a nationwide slowdown in demand.
“We actually have more vaccines than appointments taken by our community,” said Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino.
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The county still has a long way to go to get to herd immunity, which will be reached when nearly 80% of the population has been vaccinated.
Misinformation and a lower mortality rate in younger generations are leading to apathy about the shot. A lot of people in their 20s and 30s say they’re over it and don’t seem at all concerned about catching COVID-19.
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Pino believes the county’s positivity rate will likely stay between 6% and 8% for a while.
“It’s going to be very difficult to go below five, without increasing the level of immunizations in the younger segment,” Pino said.
Right now, about 35% of Orange County’s population has been vaccinated. And Pino said it’s probably closer to 40% when you add in the VA numbers that aren’t included in the state totals.
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But he said at the current vaccination rate there’s likely no way we’ll get to herd immunity by the 4th of July.
At the current rate, he said the virus will remain for a couple years.
That means face mask mandates may stick around longer than originally hoped.
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County officials said they’ll likely drop the mask mandate for fully vaccinated people first. Mayor Jerry Demings said they hope to start phasing masks out when the county reaches a 50% vaccination rate.
Full plans of the masking rollback are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
