Despite highest rate of COVID-19 infection in NE Florida, Baker County residents saying no to vaccine

MACCLENNY, Fla. – Residents in Baker County say they are still hesitant on the COVID-19 vaccine and won’t be taking the shot.

The Department of Health lists Baker counties with a 27% vaccination rate of those age 12 and up -- less than half the state average. Baker and Union counties are tied for the lowest vaccination rates in Northeast Florida.

State data show 3,557 Baker County residents have had COVID-19 cases and there was an 8.8% positivity rate among people tested within the county in the past week -- the highest rate of coronavirus infection in the region and among the highest in Florida.

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Most of the Baker County residents who spoke with News4Jax on Saturday said they aren’t getting the shot. Some people said they don’t feel comfortable with the vaccine. One person told News4Jax now that most everything has reopened, they don’t feel a need to get it.

“They believe that their body is a temple and a vessel and they have a right not to take the shot just as well as a person that wants to take the shot has the right to take the shot,” one resident said.

Many Baker County residents said they knew where to go to get the vaccine but they still won’t be getting it.