MIAMI—By the end of next week, Nancy Krinick expects to get her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. But the 67-year-old legal secretary from Sunrise, Florida, plans on keeping her daily routine of avoiding virtually all human contact even after she’s fully inoculated. The same goes for her sister and her brother-in-law, both of whom are over 65 and got their first shots together with her at Marlins Park in Miami, Krinick told The Daily Beast.
“With these new variants, we are still worried,” she said, adding, “It seems like this is never ending.”
She will continue to get her groceries delivered to her home via Instacart, avoid dining out, and put off visiting her daughter in Knoxsville, Tennessee, until a majority of the U.S. population has been immunized, Krinick said.
As extra-contagious mutations of the coronavirus gather strength like a hurricane churning off the Atlantic coast, Floridians like Krinick see no sign of respite. While they have yet to issue formal guidance on congregating by vaccinated people, state and national health experts have assured the general public that the vaccines are effective—even, if perhaps less so, against the variants surging nationwide.
But in a state with a long history of pandemic recklessness and where mask mandates are nonexistent, vaccinated Floridians don’t want to risk getting infected by going out in public.
Here, getting a shot offers little more than a modicum of relief.
Deadly COVID Mutations Can’t Stop the Party in Florida
Thanks to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing approach of forcing his state to be wide-open for business and pleasure, surges in community spread seem virtually inevitable. Last weekend, despite warnings from state epidemiologists, a host of potential super-spreader events took Tampa by storm, punctuated by legions of Buccaneers fans, a majority of them maskless, celebrating the home town’s victory when the Super Bowl wrapped up.
“Everytime I see super-spreader events like that, yes it does scare me,” said Mark Zeitlin, a 70-year-old from Boynton Beach, Florida, who’s gotten both his shots. “It’s not only Tampa. It’s happening everywhere.”
Glenn Charnizon, a 66-year-old from Delray Beach, Florida, who also got both doses, said he and his wife won’t be dining out, traveling, or going to the grocery store for a “long, long time.”
“Just because we got vaccinated doesn’t mean we can’t get COVID,” Charinzon said. “We’re not taking any chances until 70 to 80 percent of the population is vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, the Biden White House is reportedly considering new restrictions on domestic travel with huge implications in Florida, which accounts for more than a third of all documented U.S. cases of the B-117 variant, also known as the highly contagious U.K. variant. Researchers are also monitoring for any Florida outbreaks of other variants from Brazil and South Africa that have been found elsewhere in the United States, but not—officially—in the Sunshine State.
DeSantis’ response has been to chastise reporters for allegedly downplaying the coronavirus dangers of social-justice protests and celebrations of Biden’s electoral victory over Donald Trump, striking a defiant tone regarding any travel restrictions. At a Thursday press conference, DeSantis said, “We will oppose it 100 percent. It would not be based in science. It would purely be a political attack against the people of Florida.” A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to email requests for comment.
Seniors who spoke to The Daily Beast said DeSantis has been deliberately obtuse in what passes here for containing the pandemic. “The governor of this state is out of control,” said Charnizon. Krinick, the legal secretary, added: “DeSantis? Not a fan. I don’t think he’s doing anything.”
To be sure, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, recently said getting…
Read More: Florida Is a COVID Nightmare—Even for Vaccinated People