TAMPA, Fla. — Roughly 100 doctors, nurses, and front line health care workers from AdventHealth in Tampa received the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, marking the first round of hospital workers to have received the shot outside of Tampa General Hospital. 

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Dr. Tim Kubal was one of the first to receive the vaccine. While he had some reservations about the vaccine at first, he said his opinion has since changed. 

“I had concerns originally, but I relied a lot of the safety data and I think it was reviewed by a good set of professionals and I have no concerns about getting this today,” he said. “Getting COVID is way worse.” 

Dr. Doug Ross, Chief Medical Officer of AdventHealth, says the vaccine was vetted on a corporate level and a team of doctors sat in on the FDA hearings. 

“It’s the development of the vaccine that’s been sped up because of the technology, rather than the due diligence around its safety and efficacy,” he explained. 

Ross said the Pfizer vaccine is different than many traditional vaccines which is why it was developed so quickly. 

“In the old days, being like a year ago, we used to give attenuated virus. A virus that wasn’t active," he said. "The body would see that it’s something foreign, create an antibody against it, and fight against that virus.

"Now they’re actually having the body create a small portion of the virus itself and then it creates an antibody against that."

"You have no worries about getting infected by the virus because you’re not getting any part of the virus," he added. "It’s a safer way and also helps with the speed in which it was developed.” 

Dr. Stephanie Willis said she was was honored to be one of the first to get the shot on Wednesday morning. She has two young children and her husband lives with a heart condition which has provided added stress. 

“Just every day knowing that I need to go to work, this is what I do, but trying to protect them as well," she said. "It’s been a lot on my mind."

Daily, Willis wears multiple masks and PPE, and disinfects when she gets home before she interacts with her children. 

“It’s just a constant worry,” she said. 

AdventHealth plans to vaccine 800 more team members on Thursday. In all, they hope to vaccinate 3,000 of their health care workers. ​