Tampa General Hospital is expecting to receive the first shipments of a coronavirus vaccine in the next few weeks.
Dr. Seetha Lakshmi, an assistant professor of infectious disease at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and an epidemiologist for Tampa General. says essential workers will be the first people to receive it.
“The health care workers on the front lines are going to be priority No. 1, so that is Phase 1,” Lakshmi said. “And anybody who is at risk of contracting COVID-19 because of their job – so all the essential workers on the front line – will be in the Phase 1 of the vaccine.”
It’s still not clear how many doses TGH will receive.
Tampa General is one of five hospitals in the state that will be distributing the first vaccine doses, once the vaccine receives FDA approval.
Other hospitals include AdventHealth Orlando, Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Jackson Memorial in Miami and UF Health Jacksonville.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said he's hopeful the hospitals will receive vaccine shipments in the next three to six weeks.
