Bayfront Health frontline workers get vaccinated against Covid
The first group of frontline healthcare workers and team members at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg rolled up their sleeves to get vaccinated against Covid-19 Friday morning.
The hospital received 200 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from Tampa General Hospital earlier this week and will get another 200 Tuesday. On Monday, five hospital systems across the state received 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine – 20,000 of which went to TGH – to vaccinate high-contact and high-exposure health care personnel. TGH has also shared some of its surplus of supplies with other local healthcare systems, sending 500 doses to Moffitt Cancer Center.
At Bayfront, where a clinic was set up to administer the vaccine early Friday, the mood was upbeat, said John Moore, president of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg.
“Our team members were very excited to receive their vaccines,” Moore said. “Being that we are Pinellas County’s only Level 2 Trauma Center, we are grateful to be among the first to receive the vaccine.”
And there’s more good news when it comes to vaccines. On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida is prepared to receive 367,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week pending expected FDA approval Friday. Those doses will go to 173 hospital locations that did not receive doses in the first allocation of the Pfizer vaccine. Locally, those locations include AdventHealth North Pinellas, Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Largo Medical Center, Palms of Pasadena Hospital, St. Anthony’s Hospital, Mease Countryside Hospital, Mease Dunedin Hospital, Morton Plant Hospital, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital and St. Petersburg General Hospital.
In the meantime, another clinic will be held Tuesday to distribute Bayfront’s additional 200 doses.
“We are pleased to provide this initial round of vaccinations to individuals who face the highest risk of exposure to the virus,” said Dr. George Ralls, chief medical officer of Orlando Health, the healthcare organization that purchased Bayfront in late September. “As additional supply of vaccines becomes available, Orlando Health will move quickly to establish additional vaccination sites across our system.”
The Florida Department of Health reported an additional 509 confirmed cases of Covid in Pinellas County Friday, and five more deaths. The county now has a cumulative total of 39,846 cases and 995 deaths due to Covid since March. The county’s two-week percent positivity rate stands at 7.25 percent.
