ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Less than a tenth of the vaccinations in Orange County have gone to the Black community, according to officials.
The ongoing inequities led to an intense conversation at the commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday.
The mayor said those are things Orange County could have got in front of with a little more notice about how the vaccine rollout was going to happen.
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But he said local leaders were left completely out of the decisions, and now they’re doing their best to play catch-up.
Although Orange County said it’s working to make vaccines more equitable at sites, Commissioner Victoria Siplin said a lot of damage has already been done.
“Everything is not hunky-dory,” she said. “There are some people, as of last week (calling and saying they) can’t get a vaccination. Hopefully, this week they’ve been able to, but I’m still getting those phone calls.”
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Of the 285,000 people who have been vaccinated in Orange County, 60% are white, 8% are Black and the race of 25% is unknown, according to Siplin.
“If we say we care about our minority community, we have to be intentional about steps that we take when it comes to making sure they have what they need,” Siplin said.
Those steps could include setting up community centers with computers for those without internet or free rides for people who don’t have transportation.
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Public Safety Director Danny Banks said the fire department has been used “to interject in the areas we know to be underserved.”
Siplin said she recognized the county has provided those things but wishes it would have come sooner.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said it’s been difficult to be proactive with little notice from the state or federal governments.
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“Sometimes, we had no notice. When the governor would make an announcement, it was news to all of us at the local level,” Demings said.
He said he’s already seen improvement under President Joe Biden’s administration and that local leaders are being included in the process now.
“From the very beginning, the design itself of the rollout created some inequity. So now, what the nation is doing, it’s playing catch-up,” Demings said.
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Orange County will likely soon receive about $250 million in stimulus funds, which will create more initiatives to get more vaccines into Black and Brown communities.
Cox Media Group
