Vaccine drive held in Orlando as Delta variant raises concerns

Local elected officials will also be there to talk about what they say is the importance of getting as many eligible people as possible vaccinated.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Delta variant of COVID-19 is renewing nationwide efforts to get people vaccinated.

So far, more than 150 million Americans are fully vaccinated. However, with that, President Joe Biden is expected to fall short of his goal to get 70 percent of American adults to have one dose of the vaccine by the Fourth of July.

A vaccination drive is being held in Orlando to get people back on track. It began at 10 a.m. at the Dr. James R. Smith Center in Richmond Heights. The vaccine will be available for those 12 and older.

Local elected officials will also be there to talk about what they say is the importance of getting as many eligible people as possible vaccinated.

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Health experts are concerned about the delta variant, which caused widespread infections in India and became the dominant strain in Florida. An epidemiologist with the University of Florida said that the variant raises the importance level of drives like this one.

"I think, unfortunately, one thing that motivates people is when they know people who got ill or they know people that died who got COVID-19. And that's what we are trying to avoid," Dr. Cindy Prins of the UF Health told FOX 35.

The vaccination drive in Orlando goes until 6 p.m.

Watch FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.