TGH to vaccinate retirement community residents against COVID-19

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa General Hospital is preparing to enter the next phase in its fight against COVID-19, CEO John Couris said Wednesday.

During a virtual webinar with Palm Beach County officials, Couris explained the hospital will take the fight into retirement communities to continue trying to vaccinate as many people as possible who are 65-years-old and older.

"We also have created strike teams that are going to be deployed next week," Couris said. "And the reason there are strike teams is we're not taking a shotgun approach. We'll be directed on where to go. We'll go into that community, we'll saturate that community and then we'll move on to the next community, as directed."

Couris said county health departments will instruct his teams were to go.

LINK: COVID-19 vaccine distribution information in Tampa Bay area counties

This is separate from the effort to vaccinate people in nursing homes, which continues to be largely run by CVS and Walgreens.

Dr. Jason Wilson, a TGH emergency room physician, also participated in the webinar and gave viewers an update on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.

"We still see a surge going on. We still see some danger in terms of the number of cases out there. We see this variant also potentially spreading very quickly," Wilson said. "We are so close to a light at the end of the tunnel, don't mess it up now."

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TGH has not yet indicated where their strike teams will begin next week.

If you feel sick:

The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions around the clock. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.

LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website

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