Coronavirus: UF Health CEO among first to get Pfizer vaccine

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley became one of the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine Monday.

Hours later, Dr. Haley tells Action News Jax he hadn’t noticed any major side effects.

“I feel great, you know, just a little bit of soreness at the injection site but other than that I haven’t noticed anything else. Went back to meetings and the rest of the day.”

For Dr. Haley and the nine others who received the vaccine Monday at UF Health, this vaccine is a message of hope. And by being among the first, they’re hoping to be an example and a voice of reason encouraging others to push past their doubts and trust the science.

”I want people to feel comfortable getting it. I want our staff to feel comfortable. I want the community to do that and so that’s why I wanted to be one of the first people to create that comfort zone for folks,” explains Dr. Haley

For communities of color, skepticism surrounding vaccines is nothing new.

Dr. Sharon Austin, a political science and African American studies professor at the University of Florida says that mistrust dates back to the 1930s.

“During this time, African American men in rural areas of Alabama had syphilis. Some of them were given penicillin, some of them weren’t because the doctors were trying to see the impact of syphilis if it goes untreated.”

Dr. Austin says the “Tuskegee experiment” and other events have led to mistrust, particularly in the African American community over the years. But she believes seeing people like Dr. Haley receive the vaccine could give African Americans the faith they need.

“That is probably going to encourage people not to be as skeptical but I nevertheless think that a lot of African Americans are not going to get the vaccine until they see other people getting it first,” said Dr. Austin.

And that’s exactly what he says he’s hoping for.

”There’s a great opportunity for us to lead the way as clinicians and scientists and certainly as an African American representative of this community and communities worldwide, of people of color. A great opportunity for us to have faith in the science. Have faith in the physicians,” explains Dr. Haley.

Cox Media Group