In Miami-Dade, the COVID-19 figures still tell a scary story | Editorial
Three shocking numbers have emerged in our local fight against the spread of coronavirus:
<bullet>The number of Floridians killed now surpasses 26,000. Heartbreaking.
<bullet>The number of elderly Blacks being vaccinated in Florida compared to elderly whites — a stunning 73,000 to 945,000. This dangerous disparity can and must be addressed.
<bullet>The number of vaccines dumped because of breakage or thawing or unused leftovers is in the thousands. Regrettable.
<bullet>And the scariest numbers: 23 and 28. That’s the number of UK variant cases detected this week in Miami-Dade and Broward respectively.
The South African and Brazilian variants are also now a threat and pandemic experts say they might be stronger and even resistant to current vaccines. Are these the beginning of an explosion ahead?
What is clear is that combined, these numbers represent hiccups in Florida’s effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. Many months into the pandemic, January has proven to be the deadliest month across the country.
Getting more people vaccinated is the most sure-fire way to hold back the fatalities, yet vaccination numbers for Blacks remain anemic.
It’s troubling how an earlier push in Miami-Dade to get more African Americans vaccinated failed. Skepticism and distrust of the government-led vaccination are among the reasons, but a solution must be found.
The Florida Department of Health, community leaders and elected officials are trying again to boost the numbers, again working with places of worship or bringing the vaccines to elderly centers; hopefully that will close the disparity gap.
Among those helping in the effort is recently elected State Sen. Shevrin Jones, whose father is also a pastor at Koinonia Worship Center & Village in north Miami-Dade.
“We are using the Ministerial Alliance, which is a coalition of over 50 pastors to engage the seniors in their church to encourage them to be vaccinated, but asking those pastors over 65 to take the lead,” Jones told the Editorial Board.
The hope is that skeptical Black residents will reconsider their decision not to be vaccinated.
“Faith leaders are trusted, credible messengers in so many communities, including my own, making it all the more important for them to be engaged during this critical time,” Jones added.
Jones told the Board “Alliance Director Jared Moskowitz has been a godsend to the local churches and the Black community, and I am grateful that Gov. Ron DeSantis took his advice to go in this direction.”
Let’s hope there is great progress.
To add to the frustration of finding a vaccine, it was revealed this week that Florida healthcare officials have lost 3,344 doses of COVID-19 vaccines that were broken or left unused after thawing, according to the Department of Health.
It’s unclear how Florida compares to other states in its rate of spoilage.
The Centers for Disease Control does not publish spoilage statistics on its national vaccine dashboard.
With so many Floridians awaiting their chance at the potentially lifesaving shot, such waste seems criminal.
Obviously, every vaccine and every life is precious. We just need all our numbers in this fight to improve.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
