By Jennifer Corr
It was a celebration on Tuesday complete with decorations and snacks as 117 staff and residents at The Regency at Glen Cove Assisted Living received the first dose of their Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine through an on-site CVS clinic.
“It’s just a great feeling,” said The Regency at Glen Cove Assisted Living Administrator Beth Evans, who also received her vaccine Jan. 26. “We’re very excited with this privilege to be able to do everything here and everything is set up, we have rainbows everywhere, balloons and snacks and flags and buttons for everybody. We’re treating the staff to lunch.”
The clinic comes after a Gov. Andrew Cuomo announcement on Dec. 21 that a federal program to vaccinate nursing home residents would begin at 618 facilities across the state enrolled in the program. CVS will vaccinate 271 facilities. Walgreens will vaccinate 253 facilities and other pharmacies will vaccinate 94 facilities. The program, as of late December, was expected to take six weeks including three “clinical days” at each facility.
There were be clinics at The Regency at Glen Cove on Feb. 16 and March 9 following Tuesday’s clinic. The majority of the residents and staff are on board with getting their vaccines, Evans said, including resident Frances Blatchly, who said she felt fine after receiving her first shot.
“I was a little scared because I have allergies, but we followed directions and everything and I feel fine,” Blatchly said. “I hope everyone in the facility comes and get their shot.”
She was thrilled when Community Relations Liaison Amy Eisenburg notified her that she would be able to come downstairs for dinner the following day. “Oh, goody, goody,” Blatchly said. “We have a wonderful staff here. They’re really encouraging and they are going to throw us a big party with steaks.”
In-person activities, with masks and social distance in use, will also resume. Evans said she is looking forward to the day that these residents will get to enjoy their life to the fullest again instead of having to be isolated in their room to prevent getting Covid-19.
“We’re a big family here and the residents are our families,” Evans said. “We want what’s best for them.”
When Blatchly’s daughter, Jillian Abbatangelo, found out her mother received her first dose, all she could say is, “yay.”
Abbatangelo, a school librarian, also received her first dose, along with other members of her family who are in health care. She will receive her second around Feb. 14, calling it her “Valentines Day gift.”
When Abbatangelo and her mother receive the second dose, she is hoping to be able to hug her mother, who she has only been able to see behind glass or a screen. “I have not been able to hug my mother since March 11, 2020” she said. “That’s a long time.”
“It was really difficult,” Blatchly said of her months of isolation. “We’ve been pretty much in lockdown since March and that’s a long time. But, we have a wonderful recreation staff. They come by everyday and ask ‘do you want to play cards? Do you want this? Do you want that?’ So I’ve been coloring and doing word searches. I read a lot.”
Getting her first dose, Blatchly said, feels like the beginning towards the path to normalcy. She will get her second dose on Feb. 16.
Starting Jan. 27, Evans explained that residents would be able to have limited visits with their family again, as long as there are no positive cases in the facility. The visitations will happen in a designated area and both parties must social distance.
“As far as opening for regular visits as we’ve done in the past, we have to really wait for the Department of Health and an executive order to make that decision,” Evans said, adding that a beginning to the end of this pandemic is “what we’re praying for.”
Photo taken by Christina Daly
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