South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)

Doctors, nurses express mixed emotions as South Florida prepares COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Doctors and nurses express hesitation, excitement as state prepares rollout

- By Lisa J. Huriash

Someof South Florida’s doctors and nurses say they’re eager to be the first to be inoculated — while others remainwary of the COVID19 vaccine and may opt out of taking it.

Their mixed responses come just days before Florida’s frontline medical workers begin rolling up their sleeves for the state’s first round of COVID-19 vaccinatio­ns. The tens of thousands of vaccinatio­ns all will be ona voluntary basis, including at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

At Memorial, flu shots are mandatory, but COVID-19 vaccinatio­n is voluntary, even with those who come into contact with COVID-19 patients daily.

Dr. Michael Estreicher, an emergency medicine physician at Memorial Hospital Pembroke, which has about 50 COVID-19 patients, sayshe hasn’t committed yet to the C OVID vaccine .“I’ m still evaluating the data formyself and pending a decision,” he said.

And Dr. David Woolsey, an emergency room physician at Jackson, said some of his colleagues are struggling with the decision: “It’s not an easy call for a lot of people.”

He said he’s all in though, especially because he’s seeing the uptick in infections, and his high level of exposure.

“It really boils down to figuring out risk and benefit. But you always wonder about side effects from a new medication orany kind of new treatment. Wehave an expression: ‘You’d rather not be the first person or last person to prescribe a new treatment.’ But there are times the new treatment is such a dramatic breakthrou­gh you tend to be closer to the first then the last.”

Memorial Regional, Jackson Memorial and three other hospitals in Florida plan to start administer­ing Pfizer’s vaccine as early as next week, pending the government’ s approval. Jackson is expecting its vaccines Sunday night and would begin administer­ing them Monday.

The health care workers eligible for the vaccine are the very first people who come into contact with themost sick coronaviru­s patients, so they’ve been prioritize­d to be vaccinated — months before the vaccines are rolled out to the public.

There is hesitancy to take it among some medical profession­als. Martha Baker, the president of a healthcare worker’s union at Jackson Memorial, said doctors and nurses were asked three things: whether they want to take the vaccine immediatel­y, wait a while before taking it or not take it at all. She said the majority of people who answered — especially those who are “swimming in COVID” from frequent contact with patients— replied they would want to take the vaccine now.

That’s because they know the pandemic will “get worse before it gets better,” she said.

Polling hospital workers

According to Jackson’s spokeswoma­n, 5,906 people answered the poll, which is about half of their workforce. More than 49% said they will get the vaccine; almost 36% said they will consider it for a future round, and almost 15% said no

Baker said the issues for those

who weren’t willing to jump on board are varied. Some Black profession­als have cited the Tuskegee medical experiment­ation of syphilis on Black men as leading to a “culture of distrust,” she said.

Others include those who have allergic reactions, and those who worry that politics have been involved, particular­ly whether the vaccine was rushed for political gains by the Trump administra­tion.

But among the majority, “everyoneis actually pretty excited about it,” she said, citing the hope the vaccine brings as a solution to the pandemic.

In addition to Jackson and Memorial hospitals in South Florida, three other hospital systems in Florida should have Pfizer’s vaccine by next week: AdventHeal­th Orlando, Tampa General

Hospital and UF Health Jacksonvil­le, chosen because they can accommodat­e the cold storage needed for the vaccine.

After the initial shipment to these five hospitals, there’ll be another shipment expected the following week to several dozen additional hospitals in Florida.

The timing of the rollout hinges on the FDA’s approval of the vaccine, which is for people age 16 and older.

Florida’s hospitals will be giving the vaccines to their doctors and nurses, with priority to those who work in emergency rooms and COVID-19 floors — and the most exposed to the virus.

Hospitals won’t make the vaccine a requiremen­t for their staff. “Receiving the vaccine is voluntary — and not required — of Memorial Healthcare System employees that are eligible,” said Stu Opperman, hospital spokesman. It’s also optional at Jackson, said hospital spokeswoma­n Lidia Amoretti.

Thetwohosp­itals in South Florida are getting 20,000 doses each, enough for the first of two doses

for20,000front-lineworker­s. Both hospitals will have an estimated

10,000ormore leftoverdo­ses, and will dole those out to other hospitals. In all, 30 hospitals in Florida will have access to the first shipment.

At Jackson Memorial, they’ll give some of their doses to Baptist Hospital of Miami and Mount SinaiMedic­al Center, Baker said.

At Jackson, 117 nurses will give the shots and document who gets them. The task likely will go to nursing managers who don’t have patient assignment­s, she said.

Only Pfizer’s vaccine will be available in Florida, for now. That will eventually change as additional vaccines — including those for children— are approved.

Vaccinatin­g nursing home residents

In addition to doctors and nurses, residents at long-termcare facilities also will be getting vaccinated as early as next week, because they’re also among the most at-risk of being exposed to COVID-19.

At the same time hospitals are getting shipments, so areCVS and Walgreens. Representa­tives from thosedrugs­tores willbegoin­g into the long-term-care facilities to give doses to nursing home residents and nursing home staff.

In Florida, CVS andWalgree­ns are each getting 60,450 doses through a federal contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, designated for nursing homes.

Tara Burke, a CVS spokeswoma­n, said Thursday that the chain has targeted 40,000 longterm- care facilities across the country to give the vaccine; 2,600 of them are in Florida.

AW al greens spokeswoma­n said its chain is working with 30,000 long-term-care facilities across the nation, but did not give specific numbers for Florida.

The next drug in the pipeline for approval isModerna’s, which is expected later this month for people age 18 and older. Florida also will be getting a shipment.

The general public will have to wait several months, well into 2021, for the vaccine.

Eventually, big pharmacy chains, including Publix, will allow walkinst ogive vaccines once it becomes available to the general public. Next year, by the time this gets the general public, people will have a choice of vaccines.

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