Health care workers at Boca Regional and Bethesda East hospitals cheerfully lined up to receive their first shot of Moderna vaccine which had arrived on Monday.
Hundreds of health professionals have already been inoculated at different medical centers in Palm Beach so far, but this was the first batch of vaccines for Baptist Health. Dr. Samer Fahmy, Chief Medical Officer said that it was a day all of them had been waiting for from March and his colleagues in the health fraternity agree.
Although the vaccine will not be available to the general public before early April, local hospital personnel believe that “it’s a historic day” as around 600 workers have been inoculated. By Thursday, these hospitals hope that 1,600 workers would have received their first shot.
Florida has been badly hit by the pandemic with more than 1.2 million infected cases to date. Although the numbers reported on Monday were lower, fewer people have also been tested due to holidays on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The county’s positivity rate had crossed 10% and the number of patients who were hospitalized has also risen.
Health workers are positive as this is the first step towards immunity. They are the first responders and have been living with the stress of their vulnerability to contract the coronavirus from the patients they treat day in and day out, from the past year. They continue to take precautions including wearing masks, washing hands and social distancing.
