COVID-19 vaccination distribution begins in Central Florida
ORLANDO, Fla. - It’s probably the most anticipated delivery of the year. A FedEx truck pulled up to AdventHealth Orlando on Tuesday with 20,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
“I do believe this is a watershed moment for us. We will all remember where we were at the time this COVID vaccine was released,” said Dr. Neil Finkler, a chief medical officer at AdventHealth.
AdventHealth is one of five hospital systems selected in the state of Florida to receive the initial batch of the vaccine. Administrators say which employees get it first won’t necessarily have to do with a job title, but rather with their duties in the hospital.
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“We’ve strategized and prioritized based on their risk of exposure. We are starting with first group – folks who work in an ICU, the COVID ICU, the COVID units, our emergency departments, people that do procedures, our anesthesiologists -- those that are very high risk and are exposed on a daily basis, and then we’ll go down from there based on risk of exposure and our availability of vaccine,” Finkler explained.
AdventHealth officials say of the 20,000 doses, around 9,400 are expected to be used at AdventHealth in Orlando. The rest will go to neighboring hospitals like Nemours and Orlando Health.
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“We are so thrilled and excited about the vaccine. It is the safest way for us to move forward and to keep our communities, our loved ones, our colleagues well,” said Linnette Johnson, a chief nursing officer at AdventHealth.
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