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Leaders encourage more Floridians to get vaccinated as age requirements lower

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla, — As Florida continues to roll out vaccines to those 16 and up more and more counties are pushing for residents to get the vaccine.

Donna Walsh with the department of health in Seminole County says there are still a large number of cases being reported.

“We’ve had a total of 30,643 cases reported. We are currently at 1, 444 positive cases of this morning,” Walsh said.

READ: Florida reports more than 5,500 new coronavirus cases

At a mobile vaccination site in Sanford, Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy said we are not out of the woods yet and encouraged all Floridians to get the vaccine.

“We should all be focused on equitable access to the vaccine and getting people the info that they need to keep themselves and the community protected,” the congresswoman said.

One and done: These sites will begin administering Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine in Central Florida

The site at Sanford’s Iglesia Vida Nueva is part of the county’s continuing efforts to make sure everyone has access to the vaccine.

“It’s so important that we meet our community where they are where they live and work and do so in a language that people are comfortable understanding the whole vaccination process,” she said.

READ: Disney World to allow guests to remove face masks outdoors for photos

This week the state began allowing residents 18 and older to get the vaccine and those as young as 16 to get the vaccine with a parent’s permission.

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Karen Parks

Karen Parks, WFTV.com

Karen Parks is a reporter at WFTV.

Matt Reeser

Matt Reeser, WFTV.com

Matt Reeser joined WFTV in 1998 as a news photographer and has worked for television stations in Kentucky and West Virginia.