FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – According to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday afternoon, of the more than 1.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines given to the state of Florida, only about 633,000 have been administered.
The data is updated daily on the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, meaning of the vaccines received only 38% have actually been given. This comes as local health departments say the demand is great and they are “committed” to getting doses out as quickly as they get them, according to Bob Snyder, health director for Flagler County’s Department of Health.
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“We want to assure Flagler County residents that as soon as we receive any inventory of vaccines, we will get them in the arms of people immediately, we proved we can do that last week,” Snyder said.
Unlike other counties, being smaller, Flagler County only received 1,700 doses so far and didn’t receive any this week. Demand is there but the supply isn’t, he said.
“This isn’t a positive pace. We share the frustration of all counties here in Florida,” Snyder said. “We have zero left.”
However, the CDC data would show the supply is there, with 1 million doses still unused.
“We understand there are some in storage and not everyone has been able to meet the immediate need of getting vaccines out quickly,” Snyder said, though he added that is not the case in Flagler County. “I do know there is a lot of pressure being placed at every county to get the vaccines out as soon as possible, don’t hold on to them.”
In Orange County, health director Dr. Raul Pino said the county currently has 24,000 vaccines in refrigerators as of Monday, but those are all accounted for the next two weeks, having to closed registration after more than 70,000 people made an appointment to vaccinated at the Orange County Convention Center.
“Sitting around is not the word, we do have vaccine. We do have close to 24,000 right now that are on hold, and what I mean on hold is we are using them,” Pino said. “To give you the shot is the easiest part, it’s more complicated to set it up and have the resources that you need.”
Neither Pino or Snyder could speak on the vaccine inventory at the state level or where some vaccines may be sitting un-used.
News 6 emailed the Florida Department of Emergency Management to see where the delay in the roll out is and where are the 1 million un-used doses sitting. As of Monday evening, no response has been received.