“Vaccinations are doing what they are supposed to — protecting the elderly from severe enough illness that requires hospitalization,” said Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa, in an email. “The problem is that there are still 1 million seniors in the state who are not vaccinated with any dose, and another 700,000 who are not fully vaccinated. We know the previous surges in cases eventually ‘found’ those who are vulnerable.”