Today’s entry: I found it compelling that Florida is on track to vaccinate all who want a vaccine in August. You’re the first person I’ve heard with that information. Many local officials continue to complain about the rollout of the vaccine. I’d be interested to know how Florida’s rollout compares to other states.
Bottom Line: Today’s note follows yesterday’s Q&A. The Florida Department of Health is providing daily vaccination updates. Based on current FDOH guidance, approximately 68% of Floridians want a COVID-19 vaccination. Were that guidance to hold, and if Florida is able to average around 60,000 vaccinations per day, which the state is aiming for and is close to achieving, we’d have vaccinations for all desirous Floridians by the end of August.
But how does Florida compared to other states? I’ll evaluate Florida’s reach two ways. First, by adjusting for population. As of Tuesday’s data via the CDC, the top five states for vaccinations, adjusted for the population are West Virginia, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, and Connecticut. You’ll notice a theme. They’re all small states. Clearly, even when factoring in population adjustments, it’s more efficient for small states to receive and administer the vaccine. For that reason, it’s probably best to evaluate Florida based on the performance of large states as we’re the third most populous.
Florida ranks 23rd with population-adjusted reach, with 2,949 Floridians vaccinated per 100,000 in the population through Tuesday. As for total vaccinations, Florida ranked 3rd with 633,440 doses through Tuesday.
Florida is the 3rd most populous state and we’ve received the third most vaccine doses. Put both metrics together and what this exercise illustrates is that the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to our state is consistent with our population and Florida’s administration of those vaccines is better than average. As has often been stated by local health officials, rumors or conspiracies regarding subjective vaccine distribution and poor execution are false. Incidentally, that includes, Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties receiving the most doses in the state, in that order. None of this is to say the process is by any means perfect, or that there aren’t valid frustrations shared by many.
It is to say that objectively, Florida’s receiving vaccine doses on a schedule consistent with our population, the state is distributing them consistently and the overall delivery is more efficient than the performance of most states.
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