As infection rates spike in the state, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and other government, public safety and health officials released a statement Tuesday urging people to take the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
Miami-Dade has already achieved a vaccination rate of over 75%, according to the Florida Department of Health.
"For nearly a year and a half, our health care workers and first responders have put their lives on the line and made enormous sacrifices to protect our residents,” Levine Cava said. “If we can all step up and do our part once more — by getting this vaccine — we can slow the spread and prevent the variants from reversing the great progress we have already made.”
In less than a month, positive tests have have increased from 3.6% to 8.6% in Miami-Dade, officials said. Officials cite the delta variant of the disease for the increase. Federal officials reported that 20% of the new coronavirus cases in the country last week were in Florida.
In the last three weeks, the number of COVID-positive inpatients at Miami’s Jackson Health System has increased 178%. More than 95% of the new patients are unvaccinated, and more than 40% are under age 50.
“I really encourage everyone, young and old, to get vaccinated,” Dr. Lilian Abbo, head of the hospital’s infectious disease prevention program, said in a statement. “This is no longer the disease of the very elderly, nursing homes. This is affecting everyone.”
