UPDATE: This article was updated Wednesday, February 10 with comments from the Governor's Office on the state's efforts to address a vaccination disparity in underserved communities.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Black people are less than half as likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as white people, according to data in Florida. 

The reasons vary, from hesitancy to digital barriers, but access to the vaccine is the key concern in senior communities such as Parramore's Jackson Court.

In an effort to get the vaccine brought to her community, Lauretha Burton Fudge recently collected the names of about 40 people aged 65 and older who are willing to be vaccinated.

“I see somebody that needs something, and they are reaching out for it and can’t get it, it's up to me or someone like me to help them get what they need to survive. And without this vaccine, we won’t survive,” Fudge said.

Her hope? That the city of Orlando and Orange County will bring the vaccine closer to her community. She says many of her neighbors don't have transportation, which makes it harder to get to the few vaccine spots in the county.

Fudge says she has no plans on backing down, especially with the low number of minorities who have gotten the vaccine so far statewide. 

Data from the Florida Department of Health shows white people are about two and half times more likely to get the first dose as Blacks. Non-Hispanics were twice as likely as Hispanic people to get the vaccine.

“I think the root of the issue is the fact that it is access," Orlando Commissioner Regina Hill said. "They are putting them in Winn-Dixie and Publix. But we don’t have them in our neighborhood. So I really would hope the governor would work with the community leaders, the church here, in our urban core."

Hill says there is also a digital divide, because many seniors don’t have access nor the knowledge to sign up for vaccines online.

“I would like to start in our senior living complexes, as well as the churches, and those are the two places we know that have a volunteer base,” Hill said.  

Seema Mohapatra is a visiting professor of law at Florida A&M University. She says that although vaccine hesitancy isn’t as widespread an issue as many may believe, it is still a concern that can be reduced by increasing access to the vaccine in Black communities. 

“We need to get more people within the communities getting the vaccine so that other people that might have been hesitant will say, 'Well nothing happened to them, so I’m going to go ahead and get it,'” Mohapatra said. 

Still, Fudge pushes on, doing her part to help bring the vaccine to people in need. 

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings tells Spectrum News 13 that a shortage of vaccine supply is preventing further outreach. He said that although there are some efforts already underway to provide vaccine to people in underserved communities, county officials are waiting on more vaccine inventory before trying to coordinate more vaccine efforts.

As for the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis's office touted its recent initiatives to provide its citizens more access to the vaccine, particularly people in underserved communities. The Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Health are working to expand a program to administer the vaccine in places of worship. As of Monday, 51 places of worship statewide had given 26,000 doses during one-day vaccination clinics at these locations, according to DeSantis's office.

The state also reiterated its efforts to bring more vaccine to more retail pharmacy locations such as Publix and Walmart. The doses in this expansion are coming from a federal program.