FLORIDA — Reports show some workers in hospitals and nursing homes around the country are hesitant to get the vaccine.

And despite a new, more contagious variant of the virus predicted to spread throughout the U.S….we’re no different here in Central Florida.

Some Central Florida health care workers like Registered Nurse Megan Jones work with COVID-19 patients daily.

“Because we’ve had to take and convert a lot of our units into COVID units, so we spend a lot of time working with COVID now,” Jones said.

Because of this, frontline workers like her have been given priority access to the vaccines.

But that’s exactly what made Jones reluctant to take it.

“We were gonna be some of the first people in line to get the vaccine … we were concerned about what possible side effects may be and we wanted to take some time to watch how it progressed through the community,” Jones said.

She says many of her coworkers feel the same.

The vaccine is not mandatory for workers at Orlando Health or AdventHealth.

Orlando health says 90% of their physicians and 75% of their nurses chose to take it.

AdventHealth said they wouldn’t share how many employees opted out.

Associate Vice President of University of Central Florida Student Health Services Dr. Michael Deichen says it’s natural to feel reluctant after the vaccine was developed in record time.

“They’ve just heard so much contrary information, regarding the vaccine and the process,” Deichen said.

But Deichen says the science behind the vaccines is sound.

And it could create difficulties if too many health care workers opt out.

“They could get their patients and others sick, they may have to be in quarantine after exposure, it potentially limits the system,” Deichen said.

But something even more persuasive has changed Jones mind.

“I tested positive on the 20th of December … shortness of breath, fevers, a lot of nausea, and just miserable symptoms,” she said.

But her experience wasn’t half as bad as her father’s after he contracted it from a different source.

“So that was a very scary time, he was in the hospital for about six days,” Jones said.

Thankfully he made it through.

But she says now her fear of getting the virus far outweighs her vaccine concerns.

“I wouldn’t wish what we went through on anyone, it was a nightmarish scenario … I’m going to get the vaccine," she said.

Deichen said according to recent surveys, the majority of health care workers do say they’ll get the vaccine.