Following my letter to President Biden’s head of COVID-19 response, last week the White House announced that over the next three weeks the federal government will be increasing vaccine dose distribution from 8.6 million to about 10 million per week – an increase of 16 percent.
This morning the Florida Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,036,038 vaccines had been administered in Florida. More than 1 million have received the first dose and 328,346 have received both doses. The number of vaccines administered to date in counties in my district are:
• 14,668 vaccine doses have been administered in Citrus County; 1,733 have received both doses.
• 14,252 vaccine doses have been administered in Hernando County; 1,830 have received both doses.
• 36,913 vaccine doses have been administered in Lake County; 8,486 have received both doses.
• 31,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Marion County; 4,170 have received both doses.
• 18,340 vaccine doses have been administered in Sumter County; 955 have received both doses.
Florida is number one in the nation for vaccinations of seniors and leads its fellow high-population states for vaccine doses per capita. In addition to averaging 300,000+ first dose vaccinations per week to seniors, Florida is making it a priority to ensure vaccines are available for seniors who need their second dose. As part of this, a statewide preregistration system for COVID-19 vaccine appointments has been launched for those currently eligible to receive the vaccine to preregister and then be notified when COVID-19 vaccine appointments are available in their area. For more information, visit https://myvaccine.fl.gov/.
Congressman Daniel Webster represents The Villages in the U.S. House of Representatives.