POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Residents and staff at a nursing home in Pompano Beach are getting ready to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
As soon as the vaccine made its way to Florida, healthcare workers began lining up to get it, but now the community’s most vulnerable members are getting a chance to get their dose.
At around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, staff members and residents at Woodlands at John Knox Village began getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Approximately 170 residents and staff members will get the vaccine.
The National Guard responded to the nursing facility to secure the vaccine vials before they were administered. They began defrosting the vials around 2 a.m.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also arrived at the facility to be a part of the historic moment.
“We have 21,450 doses of Pfizer, 367,000 shipments of Moderna doses,” the governor said. “Most likely, I would say, it’s 99%, they’re going to get an emergency use authorization issued by Friday night. Those will start shipping this weekend.”
Vera Leip, an 88-year-old retired schoolteacher, was the first resident to get the vaccine. She spent over 40 years in the classroom, and she has never experienced anything like what she experienced on Wednesday before.
“I hope it’ll keep me from getting COVID,” she said. “I’ve never been in front of cameras like this before.”
She told 7News she feels lucky to not have contracted the virus thus far and that she was excited to get the vaccine.
Getting the vaccine was 100% voluntary for the residents and staff.
“We’re excited to be selected, the first community in Broward County, to receive the vaccine,” said John Knox Village Director of Health Mark Rayber. “We have over 90% of our elders have signed up to receive the vaccine this morning and almost 80 of our employees.”
Florida Department of Health officials will return to the facility in approximately three weeks to administer the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. At that time, if anyone else at the facility wants to get vaccinated, they will be able to do so.
Once healthcare workers and long-term care residents are vaccinated, those 65 and older will be next in line to receive the vaccine.
“We’re looking forward to the third vaccine,” DeSantis said. “Hopefully, Johnson & Johnson, that they will be filing for EUA sometime in January, which is a one-dose, no negative 70 degree storage, and you have the ability to start getting that out in a much broader part of society.”
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