South Florida hospitals are preparing to vaccinate all healthcare workers in the area
Two of South Florida’s largest hospital systems could have tens of thousands of doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as soon as a week from Friday, with enough in that first shipment to vaccinate virtually every healthcare worker in the region who wants to be inoculated from the novel coronavirus — exceeding the state’s initial expectations.
After weeks of frenetic planning, the state of Florida’s vaccine plans began to come into sharper view after a Wednesday video briefing from Gov. Ron DeSantis. In laying out his timeline, DeSantis said that the number one priority would be residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, contradicting professional guidelines and leading some healthcare workers to question on social media whether they were being placed second in line.
But by Thursday, state officials were briefing local hospitals set to receive the vaccine in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to expect enough vaccine doses to inoculate not just their own employees, but other healthcare workers from area hospitals.
The tentative ballpark figure, subject to change, is around 170,000 doses statewide of the Pfizer vaccine in the first shipment, which could arrive in Florida anywhere between December 11 to December 17, according to state officials.
Jared Moskowitz, director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management, in charge of distributing the vaccine, said that skilled-care facility residents and healthcare workers are both expected to receive doses of the vaccine in the first shipment. So did Fred Piccolo Jr., DeSantis’ spokesman.
“I believe the governor feels that each are equally important and each are equally likely to get the vaccine in the first course,” Piccolo said on Thursday. “He continues to fight every day for Florida’s share of the initial batch of vaccine to be commensurate with our senior population and our healthcare workers population.”
Moskowitz said that the state is planning for multiple scenarios, but if the latest numbers of expected doses and shipments hold, there will be enough to vaccinate “additional people beyond the original assumption from several weeks ago.”
“Everything is just contingent upon how much vaccine actually shows up on day one,” Moskowitz said on Thursday.
Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade and Memorial Healthcare System in South Broward County, which both have ultra-cold storage, would be tasked with distributing the vaccine to healthcare workers. Vaccine doses heading for long-term care and skilled-nursing facilities would be handled by the private companies Walgreens and CVS.
The DeSantis administration on Thursday published two emergency rules requiring nursing homes and assisted living facilities to allow representatives from the state health department and the two companies into their facilities to help vaccinate seniors, the News Service of Florida reported.
How many healthcare workers will want a shot?
One big wildcard is how many of the eligible healthcare workers will volunteer to get vaccinated.
At Jackson, the Miami-Dade public hospital network receiving the vaccine, doctors and nurses are split between being eager to take the vaccine and somewhat leery, according to Martha Baker, the president of the nurses and doctors union.
“Some say, ‘We’ve been doing this for nine months, so I’ll do it for another month and watch,’ ” Baker said. “Not everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and saying, ‘Give it to me now.’ ”
But Baker said there are just as many people who are itching to get inoculated. Those who work in COVID wards, she said, view the vaccine — given in two doses 21 days apart — as an additional layer of protection.
Venessa Goodnow, chief pharmacy officer at Jackson Health System, said the hospital network is surveying its employees this week to gauge their level of interest. Staff can indicate what part of the hospital they work in and whether they’re interested in being inoculated immediately, at a later date, or not at all. She expected to have the results soon.
While Baker said she has concerns about the logistics of inoculating so many healthcare workers, some of whom might suffer mild side effects, she has been telling her members that taking the vaccine when it’s offered is about more than individual benefit and risk.
“My biggest fear is that people want to wait, and too many people are dying for us to wait and watch,” Baker said. “I think caregivers have got to lead on this.”
Goodnow said that the hospital system is encouraged that side effects to the vaccine, when they do appear, tend to be mild and short lived. She described the decision to get vaccinated as a personal one, but said she believes most in the public hospital system would view it favorably.
“Our mission is to serve our community, so that opportunity to get vaccinated early falls really nicely in line with that,” Goodnow said. “As healthcare workers, we have this chance to show the community it’s important and safe.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 2:29 PM.
