The vaccination didn't hurt, she said.
It's just that Parker, 28, a nurse in the COVID-19 intensive-care unit at UF Health Jacksonville since the beginning of the pandemic, has seen so much suffering. Now there's a sign of hope — perhaps the beginning of an end to much of that suffering.
"I'm sorry," she told reporters afterward, wiping away tears. "I have to get back to my patients."
The first batches of the coronavirus vaccine began arriving at UF Health Jacksonville Monday morning, to be administered to frontline hospital staff. From there, it will go to other area hospitals in the days to come.