Sarasota Memorial Health Care System received roughly 15,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, the same number of doses in its initial allotments. The “just in time” delivery will ensure the health system can begin administering a second round of doses to all of the healthcare workers and community members who received their initial injection from SMH over the last 3 weeks.
In accordance with the governor’s directive and federal and state guidelines, SMH used its initial vaccine supply to inoculate members of its healthcare team, including active volunteers, as well as many non-SMH-employed physicians and healthcare workers from the community.
We were able to expand our vaccination efforts to reach our community’s senior population during 2 vaccine events we hosted for people age 65 and older: SMH used part of its initial supply to inoculate about 3,000 seniors at a special vaccine event held at the hospital Jan. 9-10 and nearly 400 seniors at its Internal Medicine Practice in Newtown. The Newtown event grew out of a need to bring the vaccine to communities of color, which have been among those hardest hit by the pandemic. To help protect patients and limit staff shortages in the face of this continued pandemic, SMH also used some of its allotment to vaccinate staff family members who live in the same household and are 65 or older, and others deemed special risk by the hospital epidemiologist.
While SMH currently does not have sufficient supplies to schedule more first-round doses at this time, SMH leadership will continue to explore opportunities to enhance and expand community vaccination efforts as more supplies become available.
“Although we are currently constrained by limited vaccine supplies and resources, we are committed to doing everything we can to help our public health partners get shots in the arms of high-risk populations as quickly as possible,” Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder said.
Click here for second dose information for those vaccinated by SMH, or click here for the latest information on SMH's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
About Sarasota Memorial
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System is a regional referral center offering Southwest Florida’s greatest breadth and depth of care, with more than 1 million patient visits each year. Its flagship 839-bed, acute-care hospital has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s largest and best, with superior patient outcomes and a complete continuum of outpatient services – from urgent care, trauma and emergency services to laboratory and diagnostic imaging, home health, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. SMH is the only hospital in Florida to have consistently earned the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ highest five-star quality award since the rating system launched in 2016.