Also on Friday, hospital workers began offering vaccines to local police and firefighters, Kendust said.
Fort Walton Beach Medical Center had received an initial allotment of 2,100 doses of vaccine, according to McDaniel. She said North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview received 900 doses and Niceville s Twin Cities Hospital obtained 300 doses.
As of Thursday, North Okaloosa had inoculated 202 individuals, among them 142 staff members. Twin Cities vaccinated 210 people, 159 of whom were staff members, McDaniel said.
Under order of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the hospitals were required to vaccinate those staff and frontline workers who requested the shot, Kendust said. At this time the hospitals are not providing vaccinations to patients or the general public.
Several health care workers at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center also shared their reasons for getting vaccinated.
Olivia Cooke, a registered nurse, said, “I got my COVID-19 vaccine to protect myself and my patients, be able to visit with my family and friends, and to travel again!”
Another registered nurse, Lauren Wagner, said, “I got my COVID-19 vaccine because I want to protect my friends and family.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has prioritized frontline health care workers as well as residents and staff of long-term care facilities in distributing Florida s allotment of vaccines.
“Thanks to our state’s strong partnership with the federal government and Florida hospitals, more than 146,000 individuals have been vaccinated in Florida, including front-line health care workers, staff and residents of long-term care facilities and individuals 65 and older,” DeSantis said in a statement Tuesday. “This week, Florida will receive over 120,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and w
The vaccine will be administered at the county Health Department s Coastal Branch clinic at 361 Greenway Trail in Santa Rosa Beach. Vaccinations will be administered from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays beginning Jan. 6 and continuing through Jan. 15.
The Department of Health in Okaloosa County will also began offering vaccination on Wednesday, however all vaccination appointment slots at DOH-Okaloosa are already full.
The Health Department received its initial doses of COVID-19 vaccines last week, with those doses allocated initially for critical health care workers and subsequently earmarked for people 65 years of age and older.
The vaccines delivered to Walton County are from Moderna, an American biotechnology company.
“I’m very hopeful. I’m very excited,” Cooke said after receiving the vaccine. “I feel like we’re getting to take some steps towards normalcy.”
Fifty people were immunized in just the first two hours Wednesday, but Dr. Robert Kiskaddon, chief medical officer at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, said vaccinating all the medical staff and employees will take some time.
“We have estimated about 1,500 people will require the vaccine,” Kiskaddon said. “The process will take probably about a month to get everybody vaccinated.”
Kiskaddon said hospital officials are prioritizing people who deal directly with COVID-19 patients.
“Everybody wants it done in a day, but it is a longer process,” he said. “There is a limited supply of vaccine at this point. We have to make sure the right people are getting it at the right time so that we can be more effective in the way we immunize our population.”
The incident occurred about 2:45 p.m. Sunday at 191 E. John Sims Parkway.
The two men got into a physical altercation in the restaurant s parking lot, according to the Facebook post. One of the men pulled out a firearm, and the other man grabbed the barrel of the gun and attempted to pull it away.
The weapon went off during the struggle, wounding both individuals, the post said.
Both men were transported to the Fort Walton Beach Medical Center for medical treatment.
The Niceville Police Department has identified the men but has not publicly released their names or the extent of their injuries.