Family hopes story of unvaccinated Broward teacher dying from COVID-19 will help others to consider the shot

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Last week, three Broward County public school teachers lost their lives to COVID-19.

Katina Jones was one of them.

She was a vibrant teacher at Dillard Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale.

Jones called her brother Korey, and he knew something wasn’t right.

Her brother Korey got a call from Katina... and he knew— something wasn’t right

“I was the one that picked up the phone when she wasn’t sounding good,” Korey Jones told Local 10 News.

He called the ambulance that took her to the hospital.

“She went on a ventilator, and she was in there,” he said. “She fought a good fight.”

But sadly, Katina passed away at 1:46 p.m. last Tuesday, Aug. 10.

She was not vaccinated.

“Looking back, I think she would have taken (the vaccine) eventually, but like other people, she was hearing things that weren’t necessarily true and trying to decide that and weigh the options,” Jones said.

Dr. Rosalind Osgood, chair of the Broward School Board, knew Katina well and said was just as heart filled with her students as she was with her family.

“I know she was committed to her parents and took them to get vaccinated,” said Osgood.

Jones was only 49 years old.

Her brother agreed to talk to Local 10 News with the hope that their story will move others toward the vaccine

“If we can use my sister Katina Jones as the caveat to that and push that narrative throughout the community, I think her death will not be in vain,” he said.


About the Author

Alex Finnie joined the Local 10 News team in May 2018. South Florida is home! She was raised in Miami and attended the Cushman School and New World School of the Arts for high school.

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