ICU Nurse Roseitta Da Silva, RN, administers the first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Broward Health North to her nursing manager, James McCrae, RN on Dec. 21.

By Rachel Galvin

The excitement for the vaccine is clear on the faces of Broward Health caregivers faces in a photo they took recently as back on Dec. 21 frontline caregivers would be among the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19.

 Then, on Dec. 29, they announced that they would begin vaccinating certain other members of the general public (who needed to pre-register): people ages 65 and over, office staff of Broward Health’s credentialed physicians, EMS and non-credentialed community healthcare providers who do not have access to the vaccine, as well as their office staff. In addition, they said that vaccines were available for all Broward Health employees, and credentialed medical staff at Broward Health’s hospitals. 

But, now, they have already reached capacity through February. On Dec. 30, they released the following statement: “Due to overwhelming community demand, Broward Health has reached capacity through February 2020 [assuming they mean 2021] for COVID-19 vaccinations. At this time, we are no longer scheduling new appointments. The public is encouraged to follow communications from their local Departments of Health as additional state-run vaccination sites are expected to become available in January. We are proud of the community for recognizing the importance of the vaccine and are continuing to research ways to expand capacity so we can resume scheduling in the coming weeks.”

For more information on the hospital, visit www.browardhealth.org.

Nurses and healthcare workers at Broward Health North show their excitement for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.