ORLANDO, Fla. – For more than three hours on Friday, the phones didn’t stop ringing as News 6 viewers called in to get their COVID-19 vaccine questions answered by AdventHealth Orlando health care professionals.
The Vaccine Day phone bank took place from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., all the while News 6 aired stories dispelling myths surrounding the inoculations and providing viewers with the information they need to make an informed decision.
All in all, more than 700 phone calls were placed in addition to the questions submitted online.
They spoke to residents one-on-one about their concerns and soothed their worries when it came to how the vaccine could affect their health, especially those who suffer from diabetes, Bell’s palsy, severe allergies and other complicated conditions.
The resounding message from Dr. Tim Hendrix of AdventHealth Orlando was that the vaccine is safe, effective and anyone who is eligible to get one should do so.
Below are the top five questions Hendrix answered on Friday. For those who weren’t able to call in or didn’t get their question answered, AdventHealth Orlando has a 24/7 toll free COVID-19 hotline available at 877-VIRUSHQ.
Q: What was the most asked question from callers?
A: “Where can I get it, it’s very simple, a lot of people want to know where they can get it.”
Q: What do you think has helped changed minds?
A: “All of these white coats up here are physicians, nurse practitioner’s physician assistants that deal with this daily and they understand the science.”
Q: Why do you feel that this is impactful for callers?
A: “It’s one-to-one with our patients to convince them they need to get the vaccine.”
Q: How do you feel the response from the community has been?
A: “It’s been overwhelming with the response tonight; phones have been ringing continuously and we have had many opportunities to answer people’s questions that have been concerned.”
Q: After arming callers with facts and more information, do you think this will move us closer to herd immunity?
A: “We really have gotten great results tonight in getting the message out about the vaccine, making people comfortable and trying to get this pandemic under control because unless we get more people vaccinated this is not going to get over really soon”