Though there are groups of people eagerly awaiting their turn to receive an invitation to the biggest event of the year the COVID-19 vaccination clinic local data show that many eligible Alachua County residents have turned it down.
One of the first groups targeted, front-line health care workers, are among those who have tended to decline vaccinations.
About 5,000 out of 11,000 people in UF Health Shands Hospital’s workforce have been vaccinated, said CEO Ed Jimenez. He said he was surprised by the 47% vaccination rate, thinking it would be higher.
“People have chosen not to be vaccinated,” he said. He offered two main explanations why the employees have chosen that route.
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UF Health begins administering COVID-19 vaccines in Gainesville
UF Health Shands Hospital gave 12 frontline workers vaccines Wednesday December 16, 2020 | 2:10pm EST
Samuel Overly, a UF Health clinical leader, is the first to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital on Dec. 16, 2020. Suzy Wise administered the anticipated shot. Photo by Julia Coin | The Independent Florida Alligator
Dr. Joseph A. Tyndall was one of the first in Gainesville to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday morning.
He said it didn’t hurt.
UF Health Shands Hospital administered its first 12 vaccines from UF Health Jacksonville at a news conference early Wednesday morning. Tyndall, chair of emergency medicine a