Vera Leip, 88, receives a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine from Christine Philips, RN Florida Department of Health in Broward County, in the John Knox Village Continuing Care Retirement Community on December 16, 2020 in Pompano Beach, Florida. The facility, one of the first in the country to do so, vaccinated approximately 170 people, including health workers and caregivers of the elderly. (Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
In Writing
UPDATED 14:35 PM PT – Saturday, December 19, 2020
Residents and employees of U.S. nursing homes are beginning to receive the first round of the coronavirus vaccine.
On Friday, Walgreens and CVS Health Corp. announced that they have begun administering the Pfizer vaccine to those living and working in long-term care centers.
New York officials said nursing homes should wait to receive the first doses of vaccine before Monday.
A nursing home in Connecticut has already begun firing on its residents. They call the vaccine a “road to hope.”
“Our residents have suffered a lot and our staff has felt the pressure … to care for residents during this pandemic. [while] also taking care of themselves and their families, “said Genesis Healthcare medical director Richard Feifer.” And some have become ill themselves, but these avenues of hope have arrived. “
Respiratory coordinator Sabrina Albert holds her thumbs up while holding a photograph of a friend and co-worker who died of coronavirus after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, December 17, 2020 in Saginaw , Michigan. Albert is one of the first Covenant HealthCare employees to get the vaccine. (Kaytie Boomer / Saginaw News via AP)
Walgreens reports that it expects to vaccinate nearly three million residents and staff members in 35,000 residences.
About a week after the national launch begins, both CVS Health Corp. as Walgreens plans to start administering Moderna’s vaccine.