JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For nearly a week, Florida has been administering shots to the youngest eligible populations, opening vaccines to those under 40, including inmates inside local and state detention centers.
State-run vaccination clinics saw record-breaking turnout earlier this week, and overall, record numbers of doses have been administered this week statewide.
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In Duval County, roughly 76% of people 65 and older have been vaccinated so far. This group has had access to vaccines since public sites opened in January.
But among younger groups, like people 35 to 44, significantly fewer are vaccinated: 24%. That’s in part because many in that age group just got access to the vaccine this week.
According to the CDC Director, new cases of COVID-19 are happening “predominately in younger adults.” Each of the last two days, state health officials have reported more than 7,000 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida a level not seen since February.
For the last week, in Duval County, there has been an average of 137 new cases of COVID-19 reported each day. But there have been no more than 120 hospitalizations tied to COVID-19 at any given time in Duval County since March 26. That’s much better than the peak in mid-January when more than 560 people were hospitalized because of COVID-19 complications.
This week, all four federally supported vaccination sites and several pop-up vaccination clinics across Florida began administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The change meant more people being counted as completely vaccinated.
On Tuesday, a record 128,000 people were newly counted as completely vaccinated in Florida from either a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna, or the J&J shot.