Orange County EMTs and paramedics receive the Covid-19 vaccine

SIR ORANGE, Fla. – Around 200 Orange County paramedics and EMTs received the first dose of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at the Orange County Convention Center on Saturday. The vaccines were the first released by the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. This follows the administration of the Pfizer vaccine for healthcare workers at AdventHealth.

“It’s a major reversal in the pandemic movement,” said Kent Donahue, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. “Now we can take on the crime and fight this virus. ”

The vaccine administration comes after Orange County received 16,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine in consignments last week. Donahue says as hospitals begin to vaccinate health care workers and large pharmacies will soon do so for long-term care facilities, the county’s health department will use the load for paramedics and Monday will allow them out a plan on how they plan to give the vaccine to those aged 65 or older in Orange County.

“There are over 1 million people in the community that we are planning through the process so we have been planning for months now,” Donahue said.

At the conference center, paramedics need to pre-register to receive the vaccine and will be delivered through Hogmanay, according to Donahue.

Orlando City Fire Lieutenant Corey Walker received the vaccine Saturday after not only receiving Covid-19, but seeing that his wife did not have a severe response when she was vaccinated as a nurse by the Department of Health .

“She had mild symptoms, low-grade fever but that’s it,” said Lt. Walker. “It’s terrible, we don’t know what happens when we go into someone’s home. I hope for everyone, that this should be a good thing for us. “

Like the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna requires a second dose after 28 days. Paramedics and EMTs have to come back for their second dose until the vaccine is full of health leaders say.