CEDAR KEY
While Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees declared a public health emergency in Florida, Vice-Mayor Sue Colson and the Levy County Health Department team administered the vaccine to 33 area residents and workers here in Cedar Key.
Over 2,000 reported cases of Hepatitis A in Florida prompted the surgeon general to declare the emergency. Colson’s constant attention to the health, both physical and mental, prompted Colson to bring in the team in advance of the state declaration.
As the attorney general works with the Centers for Disease Control, Colson works with not only with city and county officials, but with local businesses and residents. The Cedar Key team traveled to two clamming operations, Duncan’s Restaurant, 83 West, Jiffy Stores, and the Food Pantry to administer its 33 doses of vaccine.
According to the Florida Department of Health, seventeen counties are “critically impacted” ; they are Martin, Brevard, Citrus, Glades, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Okeechobee, Orange, Pasco, Pinellas, Sumter, Taylor, and Volusia.
For a county to be deemed “critically impacted,” at least 10 cases per 100,000 people are reported to have contracted Hep A.
*******
