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‘We just want this to be over:’ Families anxiously await vaccines in Pinellas long-term care facilities

Governor DeSantis has strike teams already administering vaccines.

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rosetta Miller's loved ones say they can't wait to wrap her in their arms and to see her smile once again.

"She just wants this thing to be over with," said Rosetta’s son, Dewitt Miller.

That wish could come true soon for Miller and his family. Governor DeSantis has strike teams already administering vaccines in Pinellas County long-term care facilities.

DeSantis says by Tuesday, those workers will have visited 111 facilities in Broward and Pinellas counties--including Pinellas Point Nursing and Rehab Center in south St. Petersburg where 84-year-old Rosetta now lives.

RELATED: Pinellas nursing homes will be among first to receive COVID-19 vaccine

"I'm all for it if it'll cure the pandemic,” Dewitt said in reaction to news of the vaccine coming to long-term care locations.

Yet even with vaccines, we could still be living with masks and social distancing for a while.

A recent study from consulting firm McKinsey and Company says while vaccines data has brought "renewed hope," the pandemic might not see an epidemiological end until the third or fourth quarter of next year.

"She's afraid, and you know, I'm afraid,” Dewitt said.

It's a sad reality for families with loved ones in long-term care, but news that the vaccine could be administered to Rosetta by Tuesday gives Dewitt hope he can soon be reunited with his mother.

RELATED: FDA gives green light to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, 2nd shot in US arsenal

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