‘Snowbirds,’ tourists make up a small percentage of Florida vaccinations, according to state report

Florida residency is not required to receive vaccinations in the state

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2020, file photo, a registered nurse prepares a syringe with the first round of the Pfizer COVID vaccination in Ridgeland, Miss., as state medical leaders received inoculations. On Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, The coronavirus vaccines have been rolled out unevenly across the U.S., but some states in the Deep South have had particularly dismal inoculation rates. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) (Rogelio V. Solis, Copyright 2020. The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The number of people who do not reside full-time in Florida, but have received a vaccination here makes up less than 4% of the number of people who have been vaccinated in the state, according to numbers taken from the Department of Health’s daily vaccination report.

The most recent report at the time of writing is the Jan. 13 report, which was released on Thursday.

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According to that report, 774,768 people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those, 72,087 have received both doses.

That same report shows 29,510 people who reside outside the state have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while only 350 have been inoculated twice.

That means of all the people who received at least one dose of a vaccine 3.8% have come from outside the state.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has criticized the governor for allowing people from out-of-state to receive the vaccine here, calling it a “major issue.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis first announced his plan to allow people from outside the state to get vaccinated on Jan. 5 during a briefing in Miami-Dade County.

“If you have folks who spend four or five months a year in the state of Florida, I don’t think we want to get in a situation where we’re trying to say, ‘Oh no, you go back to Rhode Island’ or, ‘You go back to Minnesota or wherever.’ So they’re here, they have a residence and they’re not just kind of flying by night for a week or two. I’m totally fine with that,” said DeSantis.

Correction:

ClickOrlando.com previously reported that the percentage of people from out-of-state who received a vaccination here was .038%. The actual percentage is 3.8% as reported above. We regret the error and any confusion it may have caused.


About the Author

Thomas Mates produces News 6 at 5:30 and the podcast Florida Foodie. Thomas is originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania and worked in Portland, Oregon before moving to Central Florida in August 2018. He graduated from Temple University with a degree in Journalism in 2010.

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