Broward Health Inoculates Frontline Workers With Moderna COVID Vaccine
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – With a cheer and a thumbs up, frontline Broward Health Imperial Point workers received the first shots of the Moderna COVID vaccine.
Broward Health said it received 4,100 doses of the vaccine, with 600 vials allotted to Broward Health Imperial Point.
"Like the Pfizer vaccine, which was introduced last week, the Moderna vaccine will help safeguard frontline caregivers like Lissette Gutierrez, an assistant nurse manager. Gutierrez has worried for months that she may contract COVID-19 and not be able to care for her family, including her father and sister who have debilitating conditions and her son who has autism," said Broward Health spokeswoman Jennifer Smith in a statement.
COVID-unit nurse Lissette Gutierrez was among the first to be inoculated.
She flashed a photo of her large extended family before getting her shot.
"Every time I go home, I take off everything. Some days I wonder if I will see my daughter," she said.
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Moderna is now the second vaccine being distributed to Florida hospitals. It doesn't require the deep freeze of the Pfizer vaccine, which was rolled out last week at South Florida hospitals.
"As a community, if we can build up a strong response to the virus, we will get to the light at the end of the tunnel," said Dave Lacknauth, executive director of pharmacy services.
Though the COVID infection rate is continuing to climb, Broward Health said only 70 patients are being treated for the coronavirus. That's a fraction of the rate last summer.
That said, there's concern about a spike during the upcoming holiday. Health experts are urging everyone to keep up with the basics, such as wearing their masks, washing their hands and practicing social distancing.
