Florida Is The Epicenter Of The ‘Pandemic Of The Unvaccinated’

With Covid-19 cases on the rise in all 50 states and less than half of Americans fully vaccinated, U.S. health officials warn that unvaccinated people are most at risk. “This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during yesterday’s White House Covid-19 briefing.

The Delta variant of Covid-19 is fueling a surge of deaths around the country almost entirely among unvaccinated people, U.S. health officials said. Cases are up 70% and deaths are up 26% over the previous week, said Walensky.

“We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk,” said Walensky. “Communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well.”

For unvaccinated travelers, the Sunshine State is the epicenter of the pandemic, “with one in five cases occurring in Florida alone,” said Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator. Florida, where only 47% of the population is fully vaccinated, is seeing an average of 49.3 new daily Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people, according to data from the Brown School of Public Health. That’s nearly double the threshold for “red” designation on the risk-assessment map.

But even as many Florida hospitals are at the edge of capacity for Covid-19 patients, Governor Ron DeSantis’s executive order remains in place banning local governments from requiring face masks. That hasn’t stopped many local officials from expressing alarm. Last week, the mayor of Orange County, Florida — where Orlando and Walt Disney World are located — issued a “strong recommendation” for wearing face masks in crowded indoor places regardless of their vaccination status.

It’s also worth noting that Florida is home to the three largest cruise ports in the United States. Thanks to DeSantis’s much-hyped but unpopular law banning so-called vaccine passports, cruise lines are in the unenviable position of being prohibited from asking passengers sailing from Florida for proof of their vaccination status — even as the Delta variant rages across the state. Last week, Norwegian Cruise Line filed a lawsuit against Florida, saying that said the state’s ban hurts its ability to prevent the spread of the virus onboard ships.

But the Delta variant is presenting a risk for unvaccinated travelers beyond Florida. Vaccination rates are below 42% across a large swath of the Southeast U.S. and Midwest. The second-riskiest state for unvaccinated travelers is Arkansas, where only 35% of the population is vaccinated and the state is seeing 34 new daily Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people. Other states seeing huge upticks in cases include Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada, said Zients, who noted that all those states have below-average vaccination rates.

Comparatively, the risk to unvaccinated travelers of being infected with Covid-19 is significantly lower in the New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont — where vaccination rates are above 60%. None of those six states is averaging more than five new daily cases per 100,000 people, and most are averaging below three.

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At yesterday’s press briefing, Walensky again urged unvaccinated Americans to get their free Covid-19 shots, noting that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have proven to be especially effective against the Delta variant.

The CDC provides starkly different travel guidance for vaccinated individuals versus unvaccinated Americans. Fully vaccinated Americans can travel safely within the U.S., says the agency, while unvaccinated individuals are urged not to travel until they are vaccinated.

“If you are not vaccinated, you remain at risk” said Walensky. “The good news is that if you are fully vaccinated, you are protected against severe Covid, hospitalization and death, and are even protected against the known variants, including the Delta variant.”