Charlotte County senior citizens write to governor demanding more efficient vaccine rollout

A large chunk of our senior population feels left behind during a slow coronavirus vaccine rollout. People in Southwest Florida deal with busy signals, website errors and unreturned phone calls in an attempt to get vaccine appointments.

We have been reading the messages of so many people who want the same thing. We learned Friday about neighbors in Charlotte County who have been fighting for more doses in the community.

Suzanne and Mick McGee moved to Charlotte County to be part of an active community.

“If you walk down the street in Punta Gorda, you hear music coming from the Celtic Ray, F.M. Don’s,” Suzanne said.

These are activities they avoid until they can get vaccinated.

“I am tweeting and emailing and Facebook messaging on Facebook,” Suzanne said.

Those messages were addressed to Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state and federal leaders.

Forty percent of the people in Charlotte County are 65 and older.

“There needs to be some emphasis to Charlotte County to get some of the seniors vaccinated,” Robert Law said.

Robert and Kitty Law aren’t taking any chances. They wrote the governor demanding a better system.

“There’s a lot of anxiety and depression going on,” Kitty said. “I think it’s really affecting a lot of people.”

A vaccine could bring relief and optimism back to many lives.

“If we got the vaccine here and everyone was vaccinated, it could turn back into the paradise that we’re used to down here,” Suzanne said.

Charlotte County sent a letter to Gov. DeSantis’ office requesting the state distribute vaccines based on each county’s senior population. Punta Gorda is in the process of writing a similar letter.