Florida's preventable COVID deaths Vaccinations could have prevented 56% of Florida's COVID-19 deaths between January 2021 and April 2022. That's based on a new analysis by Brown University's School of Public Health. Driving the news: Researchers created a model illustrating what could have happened if 100% of adult Americans got fully vaccinated and boosted after the shots became available. The study used data from the CDC and the New York Times while considering variables such as supply and vaccine effectiveness over time. The big picture: Nationwide, COVID vaccines could have prevented roughly 319,000 deaths, nearly half of those occurring during the study's time frame, Axios' Tina Reed reports. The news comes as the country's overall recorded death toll hit 1 million people on Monday, per the AP. That includes more than 74,000 in Florida. Zoom in: Florida ranks No. 13 in the country, with 1.69 vaccine-preventable deaths per 1 million people. 77% of Florida adults are fully vaccinated but just 42% have received a booster shot. What they're saying: "The vaccine rollout has been both a remarkable success and a remarkable failure," Stefanie Friedhoff, one of the analysis' authors, told NPR. While the U.S. was able to get a large vaccine supply rolled out quickly, the shots are useless if they're not going into arms, she said. The bottom line: As COVID immunity wanes over time and the virus continues to mutate, vaccines and boosters remain our best tools for fighting off new waves of infections. Officials must remain committed to increasing vaccine demand, the study's authors say.
And people wonder why insurance rates are rising so high in Florida. https://www.newsweek.com/florida-ro...-project-funding-amid-rainfall-deluge-1912257 Ron DeSantis Cuts Stormwater Flooding Funding Amid Florida Deluge Published Jun 13, 2024 at 9:00 AM EDT Communities in Florida were hit with heavy rainfall and intense flooding on the same day Governor Ron DeSantis cut budgets for multiple water projects. On June 12, DeSantis signed the state budget after cutting almost $1 billion from the fiscal plan, the Tampa Bay Times reported—including about $205 million in stormwater, wastewater and sewer projects. The governor also declared a state of emergency Wednesday in five counties—Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade and Sarasota—after a deluge affected important infrastructure, including major interstates, roads, schools and airports. Democratic state Senator Jason Pizzo criticized the budget cut, telling the Associated Press, "As I'm sitting here stuck on a Brightline train because of flooding in my district, all those storm water projects he cut look pretty stupid right now." DeSantis said that while he did not oppose the projects, he wanted them financed differently, by having local communities apply for funds through the Department of Environmental Protection, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
"He’s not alone in the Republican Party. After all, Donald Trump, a Floridian in his own right, suggested last week that the only consequence of rising sea levels would be more beachfront property. With much of Florida underwater now, it’s glaringly apparent he had no clue what he was talking about." https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/r...a-flooding-desantis-climate-agenda-rcna157032
