AdventHealth expects 1st shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines

ORLANDO, Fla. - Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine will soon arrive in Central Florida, as AdventHealth expects its first shipments of doses to arrive on Tuesday.

COVID-19 vaccines arrived in hospitals across the nation on Monday, including some in Florida.

The first Florida dose is believed to have happened at UF Health in Jacksonville. However, Governor Ron DeSantis spoke from Tampa General Hospital shortly after as they distributed their first dose to a frontline nurse.

First coronavirus vaccine given at Tampa General Hospital

The first coronavirus vaccine at Tampa General Hospital is given on Monday morning.

The Governor called the vaccine arrival a "significant milestone," adding there will be 100,000 doses total across five Florida hospitals by Tuesday. The other hospitals are in Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Hollywood.

AdventHealth is one of those hospitals, as they will be the first hospital in Central Florida to receive doses -- approximately 20,000 of them. By Wednesday, they will begin giving them to frontline staff.

Dr. Leon L. Haley Jr. at UF Health is believed to be the first person in Florida to be given the COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo from UF Health)

FOX 35 reporter Amanda McKenzie is standing by at AdventHealth as they await the arrival of their vaccine shipment on Tuesday. Hospital leaders will also speak on Tuesday at 2 p.m. about the doses.

AdventHealth expects 1st shipment of Pfizer coronavirus vaccines

AdventHealth will be the first hospital in Central Florida to receive coronavirus vaccine doses.

Florida is giving vaccine priority to long-term care facilities, then healthcare workers, followed by the 65 and up community who have pre-existing medical conditions.

"You have an exposure, you have an infection, you have to have 10 staff isolate. That is very difficult in terms of these operations," Governor DeSantis said in regards to protecting healthcare workers and patients. "Getting these key workers vaccinated, you're going to ensure that healthcare will be able to be delivered uninterrupted."

The first batch of vaccines is nearly 180,000 doses. While 20,000 will go to AdventHealth, another 81,900 doses will go to CVS and Walgreens to give to patients at long-term care facilities. Then, 97,500 doses will go to five separate hospital systems.

AdventHealth does practice run through of coronavirus vaccination

Video of the coronavirus vaccination run through from AdventHealth.

Florida should get more than twice as many more vaccines -- between 300,000 and 500,000 vaccines -- next week, officials said.

This could especially be true as Moderna may receive emergency use authorization from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) this week. An advisory panel will review their vaccine, which is said to be as effective as Pfizer's, on Thursday.

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