Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida can help. Our responsibility is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

Wealthy Keys Enclave Received COVID Vaccines In January Before Much Of State

An aerial view shows Ocean Reef Club, a wealthy, gated community in north Key Largo. More than 1,200 elderly Ocean Reef residents received vaccinations in mid-January, well before doses arrived in most other areas of the state. 
An aerial view shows Ocean Reef Club, a wealthy, gated community in north Key Largo. More than 1,200 elderly Ocean Reef residents received vaccinations in mid-January, well before doses arrived in most other areas of the state.

A gated community for seniors 65 and older in the Florida Keys had been vaccinated by mid-January , according to a newsletter emailed to its residents.

As Florida’s eldest residents struggled to sign up to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, nearly all those aged 65 years and older in a wealthy gated enclave in the Florida Keys had been vaccinated by mid-January, according to an emailed newsletter obtained by the Miami Herald.

The management of Ocean Reef Club, located in north Key Largo, also acknowledged in the Jan. 22 message to residents that the rest of the state was grappling to get its hands on the vaccine.

“Over the course of the last two weeks, the Medical Center has vaccinated over 1,200 homeowners who qualify under the State of Florida’s Governor’s current Order for those individuals who are 65 years of age or older,’’ the message reads.

Read more from our news partner at The Miami Herald.
Copyright 2021 WLRN 91.3 FM.

David Goodhue
Mary Ellen Klas