Florida Vaccination Plan Clearer, but When Will it Happen?
While the plans take shape, emergency officials are working without a clear idea of how many doses of the two authorized vaccines manufactured by Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna are coming, and when. by Ben Conarck, The Miami Herald / December 24, 2020 TNS
(TNS) - After inoculating the bulk of their front-line workers, South Florida hospital leaders spent the days before Christmas pivoting toward plans to vaccinate older and immuno-compromised patients, as well as seniors in the general public, at the direction of state officials.
Meanwhile, Florida s logistics hub is developing a clearer plan on how to expand those efforts to the public at large, regardless of age, by setting up vaccination sites that will look similar to state-supported COVID testing sites. The sites will be operated by county offices of the state health department, Moskowitz said.
At Baptist Health South Florida, the new vaccine doses were placed into freezers as workers took inventory. The Moderna vaccine needs to be stored at regular freezer temperatures, not the ultra-cold required for Pfizer-BioNTech’s shot. It s a blessing, it surely is, said Madeline Camejo, Chief Pharmacy Officer at Baptist Health. It s something we ve all been waiting for and it s a great piece of hope that will help get us back to normal soon.
Camejo said she was surprised they received the Moderna vaccine so quickly. She said it could start to be administered to health care workers on Tuesday.
Alcaide is one of the infectious disease experts at UM who conducted the research. The technical data the FDA panel is going over Thursday shows the Moderna vaccine, like Pfizer’s, worked very well. What is really really incredible and really good news is that they both achieve efficacy of over 90%, which is extremely, extremely high when we talk about the effectiveness of a vaccine, Alcaide said.
Hialeah Hospital is one of the 15 in South Florida that will receive a shipment. Broward North, Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, Homestead Hospital, Holy Cross in Fort Lauderdale and North Shore Medical Center in Miami are a few others on the governor’s list to receive Moderna once it gets the final approval.
South Miami Hospital emergency room doctor Yvonne Johnson was one of those who received the vaccine. The vaccine itself is painless. It doesn’t hurt at all and we are very excited to start the beginning of the end,” Dr. Johnson, who is South Miami’s Chief Medical Officer, said.
Johnson came to get her shot as part of the first wave of Baptist Health frontline medical employees to get the vaccine injection. We see everyday the patients who come in who are sick. We see everyday unfortunately there are some people who succumb and pass away from Covid, or who have a very extended stays and have to be on ventilators, Johnson said. So we know the downside.
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MIAMI, Dec. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Today, Baptist Health South Florida began administering the first COVID-19 vaccines for their frontline healthcare workers. The Pfizer vaccines arrived to the Baptist Health campus early this morning, where about 500 caregivers are expected to receive the vaccine today.
Daphne Pierre, R.N., an ICU nurse at South Miami Hospital, was the first to receive the vaccine. This marks a milestone moment for Baptist Health and our entire community in the fight against COVID-19. Getting vaccinated is the right thing to do for yourself, your loved ones and our community, said Madeline Camejo, chief pharmacy officer at Baptist Health, in a press conference today. It s the humanitarian thing to do.