A Milestone For Vaccinations: More Than 12 Million Fla., Residents Fully Vaccinated

Florida Phoenix

September 24, 2021

Though the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there’s some good news on the vaccination front: Florida is one of only four big states that have reached a milestone of at least 12 million fully-vaccinated residents.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday reported a figure of 12,154,279 for Florida residents who are fully vaccinated. (Florida’s population is 21.5 million.)

The other states at the 12 million milestone are: California, at 23,132,161 residents fully vaccinated; Texas at 14,716,933 and New York state, at 12,277,053.

However, the CDC also reports the percent of fully-vaccinated residents, and of the four big states reaching the 12 million mark, New York state has the highest percentage of fully-vaccinated residents, at 63.1 percent.

California is at 58.5 percent, Florida at 56.6 percent and Texas, 50.8 percent.

Florida, California and New York are above the national average, at 55.1 percent for fully-vaccinated residents. Texas is below that average.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried touted the news as a milestone.

“Thanks to more people getting vaccinated, we are continuing to see a promising decline in the number of patients being admitted to Florida hospitals, and the number of patients in the ICU,” said Fried. “This is major progress that should be applauded.”

Fried has been reporting COVID-19 data at news conferences, in part because she believes that the Florida Department Health has not been providing enough information to the public. Fried, a Democrat, is a gubernatorial candidate for the 2022 election, hoping to topple Gov. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis has been focusing heavily on monoclonal antibody treatments that can help prevent people from getting very sick and staying out of the hospital, though the governor has continued to mention vaccinations.

Overall, Florida ranks 21st of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, for the percent of residents fully vaccinated, according to the CDC data.

Here’s the CDC data for all states:

Florida Phoenix reporter Danielle J. Brown contributed to this report.

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