Q&A of the Day – Is Florida still being shorted on COVID-19 vaccines?
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
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Today’s entry: I wanted to ask you about something you mentioned in your takeaways. You said Florida’s 41stinvaccine doses. The last time I heard you talk about this we were getting what we were supposed to. What's changed?
Bottom Line: The last time I covered this story was a month ago in a story entitled, Is Florida getting its fair share of vaccines? In that story I mentioned that for the first time during the Biden administration Florida was receiving our fair share of vaccine doses relative to our population. The key being that it was just one week and that it also didn’t make up for what we’d been shorted previously. To give you an idea of what’s been typical–you need look no further than this week’s shipments.
Florida’s population is approximately 6.7% of the US population. That means Florida should be receiving about 6.7% of all first and single dose vaccines shipped per week by the federal government. So, what’d we receive? Of the 6.75 million first and single doses shipped nationally - Florida picked up 417,430 of them or 6.1%. So, despite the fact we received more vaccines this week, than any prior week since shipments began- we were shorted once again. A theme that’s been more consistent than not.
Since the onset of vaccine shipments Florida ranks 41st in population adjusted first-dose and single dose vaccines received. The average percentage of first & single dose vaccines available as of this week equals 33% of the population. Florida has only received doses servicing 30% of our population. That means Florida has received 10% fewer vaccines than our population would dictate. This is especially notable given Florida’s demographics. Florida is the third oldest state in the country and easily has the largest number of seniors of any large state in the county. In fact, states like California and New York have received 13% more vaccines than Florida adjusted for population. These facts further show the importance of Governor DeSantis having prioritized senior vaccinations with the early shipments we received – given that our state has been shorted.
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