SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — So far 10 states across the country have reached President Joe Biden's goal of vaccinating at least 70% of adults with at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.


What You Need To Know

  •  Across the country, 20 states have vaccinated 65% or more of their population with at least one COVID-19 shot

  •  In Florida, only 48% of residents have received at least one shot

  • President Biden has set a goal of 70% to reach herd immunity and currently 10 states have reached that level

That's according to Andy Slavitt, the White House senior advisor for the COVID response, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Another 10 states have vaccination rates above 65%.

In Florida, just over 48% of the state has received at least one dose of a vaccine, with 38% of the eligible Floridians fully vaccinated. Despite Florida lagging, medical experts are optimistic Florida will reach herd immunity late this summer.

As the country watches the 70% vaccination goal set by Biden to try and reach herd immunity, for the third time this year First Baptist Sweetwater Church hosted a mobile pop-up vaccination site. 

Lead Pastor Buddy Parrish believes its the church's way to help do their part.

“If we can do something that is going to keep the community safe and help kill the fear of the virus, then that is what we wanted to do,” Parrish said.

Justin Senior is the CEO of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, which helps fund medical education in the state of Florida through 14 different hospital systems. Tracking vaccination numbers is something he does often.

“It’s starting to ebb a little bit in terms of how many people are getting vaccinated and going in each week,” Senior said.  “It is still a pretty steady flow. Six-figure numbers of people each week being added to the list of people who have had at least one shot."

As more people  get vaccinated, so does the growth of Parrish’s congregation on Sundays, which started after Easter.

“Since then its been a steady uptick,” Parrish said. “We have opened up classes again, Bible study classes, Sunday morning programs and attendance has come close to doubling.”

Despite the number of adults in Florida with at least one dose of the vaccine being well under 70%, Senior says there is other encouraging data for the state.

“In the 55-and-over population — and in 2020 that population was responsible for nearly 75% of hospitalizations in the state of Florida,” Senior said. “Over 90% of the fatalities, and right now between 75 and 80% of them have received at least one shot.”

Parrish said he and his congregation are just happy to do their part.

“If we can in some small way try to bring some normalcy back to the community, start helping this community get past COVID, then that is what we want to do,” he said.

As of now when the county comes back to administer second doses at the First Baptist Sweetwater Church in 21 days, that will be the church's last pop up event. Right now, Seminole County officials are unsure if there will be any more pop-up vaccination events scheduled this summer.