Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, United States.
Front Public Health. 2024 Feb 19;12:1351690. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1351690. eCollection 2024.
The first cases of COVID-19 in Florida were diagnosed on March 1, 2020. Three years later, more than 7.3 million people have had COVID-19 in Florida, and more than 93,000 individuals have died from this illness. When considering the impact of COVID-19 on Florida, several key factors need to be considered, including that Florida was one of the most medically vulnerable states due to a substantial proportion of older individuals and those with underlying medical conditions. Florida also has a centralized Department of Health and Division of Emergency Management structure that facilitated response activities. Looking at the impact of COVID-19 on Florida, two distinct phases need to be considered: the pre-Delta variant phase from March 2020 to July 2021 and the Delta variant and beyond phase that began July 2021 and still continues. During the 16-month first phase, about 38,000 people died. Yet, 24,000 people died during the 5-months of the Delta variant wave from July to November 2021. During the Omicron waves that followed Delta, an additional 31,000 people died. Florida thus went from ranking 26th in death in the United States at the end of the first phase to 10th a few months into the Delta wave and now ranks 8th. Why did these phases differ so dramatically in terms of mortality? During the first phase of the pandemic, adherence to established nonpharmacological and older adult protection measures was recommended. When COVID-19 vaccines became available in December 2020, there was an aggressive campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination, and public acceptance was high. The second phase followed political opposition to CDC and public health expert guidelines, the rise of anti-vaccine sentiment and misinformation, and falling vaccination rates. These factors contributed to considerable population vulnerability to severe disease when the Delta variant hit. As the former State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health of Florida from June 2019 to September 2021, this report provides perspective on the shifting impact and response to COVID-19 in Florida, which is the third most populous state in the United States. This perspective shows the clear consequences of shifting from standard public health practices and vaccine promotion to attacks on public health and vaccines.
佛罗里达州的首批 COVID-19 病例于 2020 年 3 月 1 日确诊。三年后，佛罗里达州已有超过 730 万人感染 COVID-19，超过 9.3 万人因此病死亡。考虑到 COVID-19 对佛罗里达州的影响，需要考虑几个关键因素，包括佛罗里达州是老年人和有潜在医疗条件的人比例较大的医疗脆弱州之一。佛罗里达州还有一个集中的卫生部门和紧急事务管理部门结构，这促进了应对活动。审视 COVID-19 对佛罗里达州的影响，需要考虑两个不同的阶段：从 2020 年 3 月至 2021 年 7 月的德尔塔变体前阶段，以及从 2021 年 7 月开始并仍在持续的德尔塔变体和之后阶段。在 16 个月的第一阶段，约有 3.8 万人死亡。然而，在 2021 年 7 月至 11 月的德尔塔变体浪潮的 5 个月内，有 2.4 万人死亡。在紧随德尔塔之后的奥密克戎浪潮中，又有 3.1 万人死亡。因此，佛罗里达州在第一阶段结束时的死亡人数在美国排名第 26 位，在德尔塔波几个月后跃升至第 10 位，现在排名第 8 位。为什么这些阶段在死亡率方面有如此大的差异？在大流行的第一阶段，建议遵守既定的非药物和老年人保护措施。当 COVID-19 疫苗于 2020 年 12 月推出时，开展了一场积极的推广 COVID-19 疫苗的运动，公众接受度很高。第二阶段紧随对疾病预防控制中心和公共卫生专家指南的政治反对、反疫苗情绪和错误信息的兴起以及疫苗接种率的下降而出现。当德尔塔变体来袭时，这些因素导致人口对严重疾病的脆弱性大大增加。作为佛罗里达州 2019 年 6 月至 2021 年 9 月的前任州外科医生和卫生部长，本报告提供了佛罗里达州 COVID-19 影响和应对情况的视角，佛罗里达州是美国人口第三多的州。这一视角显示了从标准公共卫生实践和疫苗推广转向攻击公共卫生和疫苗的明显后果。
