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With coronavirus cases increasing across the state, the health director in Palm Beach County is pushing the Florida Department of Health's aim at getting residents vaccinated.
"A needle today helps keep COVID away."
Dr. Alina Alonso says the Delta variant is a big part of what's bringing cases up.
"This Delta is very very important and we need to follow it closely."
While she says the variant is more contagious, vaccines do appear to be effective against it.
Alonso says statewide, the 18 to 49 age group makes up 40 percent of the COVID hospitalizations in the last week of tracking.
Based on the numbers released last Friday by the state, Palm Beach County is averaging close to 300 new coronavirus cases per day, after a "steady decrease" over the last few months.
The cases are increasing as the rate of vaccinations have slowed down, with 58-percent of the state's population having received at least one shot. The number is higher in Palm Beach, at 62 percent.
As for the need for a booster shot, Dr. Alonso says there isn't one.
"The vaccine is holding steady. The antibodies are holding steady. We will need one in the future? Probably at some point. But there's no sense starting to get boosters until it's declared."
She says the CDC is looking into whether and when a third shot will be needed for those who have gotten both shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.