COVID-19 vaccinations going strong for these Whatcom County residents
Maryann Weisgerber is looking forward to once again being able to visit her daughter in person as well as go to the mall and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.
The 81-year-old resident of Highgate at Bellingham can anticipate such activities these days after being the first person to get a COVID-19 shot at her assisted living and memory care facility, when Walgreens conducted a vaccine clinic there on Friday, Jan. 29.
“I did not feel a thing. I think everybody should have it,” Weisgerber said to The Bellingham Herald, adding that getting vaccinated was a relief.
Residents and workers at long-term care facilities, which include nursing homes and assisted living spaces, are being vaccinated against COVID-19 through a federal partnership with Walgreens, CVS and selected pharmacies that are part of Managed Health Care Associates.
Locally and nationally, the elderly have taken the brunt of the disease and there has been grim concern about outbreaks in nursing homes. The social isolation from lockdowns also has been tough on seniors.
There’s some good news in that new cases and deaths in nursing are dropping nationwide, according to an analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation, which focuses on national health issues. In a Feb. 24 article, the nonprofit notes that the decrease “coincides with the start of vaccine administration in (long-term care facilities), suggesting a link between the two, although the trends could also be influenced by other factors.”
Whatcom County has nine skilled nursing facilities, 17 assisted living facilities and 23 adult family homes, according to a previous Bellingham Herald article.
State and local public health officials said they didn’t yet have the vaccine for all long-term care facilities in Whatcom County, although the state Department of Health said the effort to vaccinate people at such facilities, including adult family homes, were continuing via pharmacies and mobile teams in different communities.
“We are expecting all first doses to be completed in all facilities across the state no later than March 5 with booster doses completed four weeks later,” Shelby Anderson, spokesperson for the state health department said to The Herald in an email.
Officials sometimes call second doses booster shots.
A total of 92 people — residents and employees — were vaccinated at Highgate on Jan. 29 over the course of six hours. They ranged in age from 21 years old to 99 years old, according to Kelsey Rowlson, its community relations coordinator.
It was the first of three vaccine clinics on-site to give people their first shots, second doses and then pick up vaccinations that didn’t occur in the first two clinics.
Rowlson said they expected “another great turnout during these events as well because folks are excited and looking forward to getting back to normal.”
Highgate at Bellingham has not had an outbreak during the pandemic, officials there said.
“In March, we are looking at residents being able to start participating in more activities outside of the community with family and friends — activities such as going on a walk with their grandkids or spending the afternoon at their daughters’ home, perhaps meeting a great grandbaby for the first time,” Rowlson added. “It is all really exciting for our residents and their loved ones.”
No one is required to get vaccinated, she said, although it is highly encouraged.
“It was great to see the turnout for the first dose of the vaccine because it showed how much our team members are willing to go that extra mile for our residents. In terms of our residents, many commented that they didn’t even feel the shot,” she said.
Good Samaritan Society-Stafholt, a Blaine nursing home, did have an outbreak of 13 cases, including 11 residents in late March 2020.
On Jan. 19, it had the first of three vaccine clinics at its facility, with nearly 90% of residents and 63% of employees getting their first dose during a clinic at the facility that was run by Walgreens, according to Stacy Bernard, a licensed nursing home administrator for Good Samaritan Society.
“Everybody had the ability to make the decision if they wanted to be vaccinated or not. We strongly encouraged it,” Bernard said to The Herald.
She said vaccination gives hope to residents knowing that it brings Good Samaritan Society-Stafholt one step closer to being able to open up its buildings so that people can celebrate in person instead of through a window and otherwise get back their time together with each other.
This story was originally published February 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
