TAMPA, Florida. – Calling it a “historic day,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the first shipments of the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Florida on Monday.
“That changes the game,” DeSantis said during a press conference at Tampa General Hospital. “It’s a great day for the United States. It’s a great day for the state of Florida.”
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WEB EXTRA: First COVID-19 vaccine shipments arrive in Florida, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis
DeSantis said shipments of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Tampa General Hospital, Broward Memorial Hospital and UF Health Jacksonville on Monday.
Shipments will arrive at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami-Dade County and AdventHealth Orlando on Tuesday.
DeSantis said Florida will have about 179,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of this week.
“This is a really significant milestone when it comes to fighting the coronavirus pandemic,” DeSantis said. “Today we will have shots in our arms. We will have vaccinated health workers.”
The governor said five hospital systems in Florida were selected for the initial release of the COVID-19 vaccine because of its ability to store it properly.
“[The federal government] he did not want to have a large number of hospitals. If there were problems, the problems would worsen. This is a kind of beta test. They wanted to run it, make sure things ran smoothly, ”DeSantis said.
Initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be targeted at high-exposure, high-contact health care workers within the five hospital systems, followed by residents at long-term care centers statewide.
An advisory committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will meet Thursday to decide whether to recommend a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Moderna.
DeSantis said he expects full FDA approval on Friday, with the first shipments of the Modern vaccine coming to Florida between Sunday and Tuesday next week.
Florida should receive 365,000 doses of the Modern vaccine, according to DeSantis.
“This will continue to serve our long-term care mission, but we will also start, hopefully, as front-line health workers have it available, to start getting it to some of the older people outside the care centers. “Long-term care,” DeSantis said. “In the third week of December, when we get even more modern, we hope to be able to really start offering it.”
At the end of Monday’s press conference, Vanessa Arroyo, a front-line nurse at Tampa General Hospital, became the first Florida health worker to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
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WEB EXTRA: Florida’s first health worker receives COVID-19 vaccine
Broward County Memorial Healthcare System officials said they received 19,500 doses of the vaccine Monday.
These doses will be administered to front-line medical employees working in the critical care and emergency departments of Broward Memorial Hospital and five other hospitals in Broward County.
“For the first time, we see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Aurelio Fernandez, president and CEO of Memorial Healthcare System. “It’s the beginning of something that’s going to be very, very positive.”
Fernandez said health workers will begin receiving the vaccine on Tuesday. There are two doses that must be made at least 21 days apart.
According to the latest figures from the Florida Department of Health, there are 1,125,931 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 19,866 coronavirus-related deaths in Florida.