ORLANDO, Fla. — The first vials of the coronavirus vaccine have arrived in Central Florida.
Health care workers at AdventHealth will start getting the vaccine on Wednesday, but there is another group that already received the first dose.
The Orlando VA Medical Center received almost 3,000 doses on Monday.
Read: Florida reports more than 9,400 new COVID-19 cases, 94 virus-related deaths
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The Orlando VA started COVID-19 vaccinations on its veterans who live in the long-term care community living center.
U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. William King Jr. and Sgt. Maj. Daniel Davis were some of the first people to receive the vaccine.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs chose 37 VA systems across the country for this initial rollout.
The sites were chosen for their ability to vaccinate a lot of people and keep vaccines in their required cold temperature.
The group next in line is over at AdventHealth. The hospital received 20,000 doses on Tuesday.
“This is a big day, and what we hope is the beginning of the end of this pandemic,” said AdventHealth’s chief nursing officer, Linnette Johnson.
Employees at AdventHealth Orlando and Celebration will be able to roll up their sleeves Wednesday to get vaccinated.
In addition to nurses and physicians, nutritional employees who deliver food to the patients, staff who clean the rooms and several others who are assigned to those COVID-19 treatment areas will all be able to get a vaccine.
AdventHealth will use 9,400 doses for its staff or about half of the 20,000 doses it received from the state.
Watch: ‘Liquid gold’: COVID-19 vaccines heading to frontline workers beginning Wednesday
It will share the rest with other health care systems like Orlando Health and Nemours Children’s Hospital for their front-line staff.
The veterans and front-line health care workers who are being vaccinated will need to receive a second shot in about 21 days after their first.
See the full report in the video above.