Florida will be lowering the eligible age for COVID-19 vaccines below 65 "relatively soon," Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.
Speaking at a news conference at a vaccination site in Crystal River Thursday morning, DeSantis said about 54% of the state's seniors age 65 and older have received a shot, meaning the state is getting closer to lowering the eligible age.
"Which is gonna happen relatively soon, certainly this month, it's just a matter at looking at how much vaccine we're getting and how much coverage we're getting for seniors," he said.
DeSantis said he doesn't believe as many people in their 20s will want to get vaccinated compared to people in their 70s.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
"I don't think you're gonna get above 50% of people that are under 50, and I think you may even be less than that," he said.
DeSantis repeated that the state won't mandate vaccines for anybody but said people should be encouraged to get them.
"But I think the messaging is important, when you have these people saying 'oh yeah, you get vaccinated you still can't do anything, you gotta social distance,' well why would someone want to do it at that point if they're not serious risks? I think the message needs to be the more people that get vaccinated we're gonna be able to do whatever you want to do," DeSantis said. "Now Florida, we obviously are open, we trust people and I think that that's been a better approach, but still, we should want people, there should be an incentive for people to want to get vaccinated."
