Doctors around South Florida are responding to the rise in COVID cases and hospitalizations, encouraging everyone to get vaccinated.
Dr. David Dodson, an infectious disease specialist, told Michael Williams on Sunday's To the Point that vaccines save lives and keep people out of the hospital.
"Since the vaccines have become widely available, in early June, every case and every death subsequent to that has been unnecessary and it's a shame," Dr. Dodson said.
Dr. Dodson said the issue of vaccine hesitancy is new and blames rumors that spread on the internet. He said if you look back in history, vaccines have been a part of the United States' history and helped eradicate polio and smallpox.
"I really don't think that a lot of these reasons that people don't get vaccinated hold up at all," Dr. Dodson said.
Right now, booster shots are not needed, but Dr. Dodson said researchers are finding the vaccine efficiency is weakening a bit after 6 months. He believes everyone will need to get a booster vaccine.
"What is the best booster? Should it be the exact same thing you got before or should it be a little different," Dr. Dodson asked. "Should they tweak it or should it be a different vaccine? They are working on that, but I think everyone is going to get a booster."
Besides vaccines, Dr. Dodson says masks, social distancing and hand washing will help end the pandemic. This will especially be true as students head back to class this week.
"You have to do everything you can to limit the spread," Dr. Dodson said. "My advice would be mandatory masks in all school settings above the age of two."
Governor Ron DeSantis has banned mask mandates in schools. Districts who don't comply face a possible loss of funding, which the governor's office says would be narrowly tailored to cutting school board or superintendent pay.