TAMPA -- The first deliveries of COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Tampa General Hospital around 10 a.m. Monday morning, according to News Channel 8, which says a FedEx truck pulled up around 10:10.
Governor Ron DeSantis appeared at TGH in a news conference following the arrival, where the first dose was delivered. 31-year-old frontline nurse Vanessa Arroyo was the first to roll up a sleeve and take the shot.
DeSantis says shipments arrived at TGH, Broward Memorial, UF Shands in Jacksonville. Tomorrow morning, they're expected at Jackson Memorial in Miami and AdventHealth in Orlando. The governor says he signed for the TGH shipment and watched as it was loaded into cold storage. He says that by tomorrow morning, 100 thousand doses of fhe vaccine should be in Florida.
TGH will use its allotment to vaccinate frontline medical personnel, then share the remainder with other hospitals in the Tampa Bay area.
Some 60,000 doses are on their way to CVS and Walgreens to distribute to nursing home patients. The state is getting 20,000 doses to assist in that effort,
DeSantis says that with the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines in the pipeline, COVID shots should be widely available by February.
Tampa General Hospital president John Couris expressed excitement, calling the first shipment "twenty thousand doses of hope." He added, "this is game time... we're ready."
Photo Credit: WFLA-TV