Exhausted Nurse Honored To Receive Early Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine

TAMPA BAY AREA, FL — Hundreds of frontline healthcare workers at BayCare and James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital & Clinics received some of the first doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine Tuesday, a news release said.

Stephanie Rock, a registered nurse in the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital South in Riverview, told WFTS she is honored to have received one of the first doses in Florida.

“This has been the longest year of my nursing career," Rock said. "I think every health-care worker is exhausted and for me, it was not even a question of if I would get the vaccine. Not even. I decided I’m definitely getting it."

BayCare told the news station that up to 1,000 frontline employees in Pinellas, Polk and Hillsborough Counties per day will receive vaccinations.

In addition to doctors and nurses receiving the vaccination Tuesday, 280 Pinellas County Emergency Medical Services workers and firefighters received doses.

Another Tampa Bay health-care facility that started administering vaccines to its frontline workers Tuesday is the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital & Clinics, a news release said.

"James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital & Clinics is thrilled to offer the PfizerCOVID-19 vaccine to health care personnel and veteran spinal cord unit patients and community living center residents," David VanMeter, interim director said. "With this vaccine, we have renewed hope. As vaccine supplies increase, our ultimate goal is to offer COVID-19 vaccination to all veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated."

James Haley joins 113 VA medical centers across the country to receive the first limited supply of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Sites were identified based on need for the vaccine according to CDC's 1A prioritization and capacity to store the vaccine at -20C.