TOLEDO, Ohio — After frontline healthcare workers, nursing homes and long-term care facilities are at the top of the priority list of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Some residents in facilities across northwest Ohio will be getting their first shot during the start of next week.
Fulton Manor Nursing Home in Wauseon is estimating they'll get around 100 Pfizer vaccine doses for their residents and staff on Dec. 21.
"Over the next few days, we'll be giving the residents information about the vaccine and getting the consent arranged for the vaccine," said Steve McCoy, Director of Marketing & Planning for the Fulton County Health Center. "Residents and staff will have the option to refuse if they don't feel comfortable."
But McCoy anticipates most will want to be vaccinated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 vaccination will help:
- keep you from getting COVID-19
- will be a safer way to help build protection
- will be an important tool to help stop the pandemic
Genacross Lutheran Services' long-term care facility in Napoleon expects to get their shipment of around 200 doses on Dec. 22.
"It is going be a light at the end of the tunnel in a sense for us," said Jessica Kirkendall, the Executive Director of Genacross Lutheran Services- Napoleon Campus. "To be able to provide our residents with hope and our family members with hope. Hopefully, it brings us one step closer to be able to open our doors."
Genacross Lutheran Services does not have an official date as far as when their Toledo and Wolf-Creek campuses will receive the vaccine but they expect them soon.
Both organizations are partnering with CVS Health to host vaccination clinics.
After the first shot is administered, the pharmacy is expected to do a second shot within the next few weeks. According to the CDC, a second shot is needed to get the most protection the vaccine has to offer against this serious disease.
Walgreens will also be collaborating with approximately 35,000 long-term care facilities across the nation that have selected Walgreens as their vaccine provider.
COVID-19 vaccines are one of many important tools to help us stop this pandemic.
It’s important for everyone to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions. Cover your mouth and nose with a mask when around others, stay at least 6 feet away from others, avoid crowds, and wash your hands often.
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