JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After learning that Florida has almost a million unused vaccine doses, News4Jax reached out to local health departments who are limiting appointments saying they can’t get enough Pfsizer or Moderna vaccine.
Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday afternoon shows the state of Florida has 1,661,675 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, but only about 633,440 have been administered.
This means of the vaccines Florida has received, only 38% have been given. That represents roughly 3% of Floridians.
In Central Florida, health departments said vaccines on “hold” are put in storage, but are intended to be used. Health departments across the state have been scrambling to distribute vaccines, many encountering messy rollouts and drawing complaints from seniors and healthcare workers who are eligible for them.
Florida is in the top three of states that have received the most vaccines, behind only Texas and California. California received the most vaccines with more than 2 million doses available to the state.
The CDC said their COVID Data Tracker is updated daily. As of Monday morning, the CDC showed 25,480,725 have been distributed nationally and 8,987,322 administered.
St. Johns County issued the following statement on vaccination distribution:
“St. Johns County is working closely with the Governor’s office, the Florida Department of Health, and the Florida Department of Emergency Management to increase the vaccine allotment to our community. We have let them know that we are ready, willing, and able to assist and made them aware of our ability to efficiently deliver the vaccine to our residents. We are poised to mobilize the operation as soon we receive an additional allotment.”
News4Jax will update this story when we health back from other health departments.