SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - More doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine have made their way to South Florida hospitals.
Baptist Health in Southwest Miami-Dade received their shipment of the vaccine early Wednesday morning.
A total of 500 healthcare workers at the hospital are now preparing to get their COVID-19 vaccine.
“I am very much a believer of science, and I am absolutely happy to be getting the vaccine today,” said ER registered nurse David Lindsey.
It’s another round of applause in South Florida as another hospital begins to vaccinate their employees against the novel coronavirus.
“I encourage everybody to come out and vaccinate as soon as it’s your turn. Get it done, and let’s get this over with,” said nurse Eduardo Martinez DuBouchet.
“Very exciting, honestly,” said Jazmith Patino, a COVID unit nurse at Baptist Hospital.
For months, Patino had to be cautious around her parents and her own children. The Pfizer vaccine is going to change that.
“It’s nice to know that when I go home I’m going to be protected,” Patino said.
Baptist Health can vaccinate 12 people at a time, and seven days from now they plan to have vaccinated 3,600 people.
“It is very emotional for me, and it’s a very exciting day,” said Madeline Camejo, the chief pharmacy officer for Baptist Health.
Camejo said every employee who receives the vaccine will be handed a card that tracks their vaccination progress.
“As people come in today, we are scheduling already for the next dose, which is 21 days later,” she said.
Two other South Florida hospitals also got a shot at prevention.
Kendall Regional Hospital offered the vaccines to their most at-risk frontline workers.
At Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, one registered nurse who got the first dose helped treat the first two COVID-19 patients who arrived at Holy Cross back in March.
“It has been a long road, and we’ve taken care of a lot of COVID patients here at Holy Cross Health, and so, this vaccine is a real mile marker, and I’m glad I was able to be a participant in the vaccine,” said registered nurse Peter Snyder.
There are still several months to go before life will resume to normal, but for the frontline workers who have sacrificed so much for nearly a year, a simple shot in their arm is a sign of what’s to come.
“It’s going to completely change our lives. It’s going to give us hope that we’re seeing the horizon,” Patino said.
As we are returning to some sense of normalcy and as vaccinations get underway at Baptist Hospital, health officials said they’ll be able to vaccinate 500 people a day in the days and weeks to come.
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