Vera Leip, 88, receives a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine from Christine Philips, Florida Department of Health, Broward County, at the John Knox Village Continuing Care Retirement Community on December 16, 2020 in Pompano Beach, Florida. The unit, one of the first in the country to do so, vaccinated about 170 people, including health workers and caregivers. (Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
TO Newsroom
UPDATED 14:35 PT – Saturday, December 19, 2020
Residents and nursing staff in the United States are beginning to receive the first round of coronavirus vaccine.
On Friday, Walgreens and CVS Health Corp. announced that they have started administering the Pfizer vaccine to those living and working in long-term care institutions.
New York officials said nursing homes should expect to receive the first doses of the vaccine by Monday.
A Connecticut nursing home has already begun launching photos to its residents. They call the vaccine a “bottle of hope.”
“Our residents have suffered a lot and our staff has felt the tension … in caring for residents during this pandemic. [while] also taking care of them and their families, ”said Genesis Healthcare Medical Director Richard Feifer. “Some have fallen ill themselves, but these bottles of hope have arrived.”
Respiratory coordinator Sabrina Albert is holding a thumb while taking a photo of a friend and colleague 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 receive the vaccine. (Kaytie Boomer / Saginaw News via AP)
According to reports, Walgreens expects to vaccinate about three million residents and staff members in 35,000 nursing homes.
About a week after the national launch began, both CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens plan to start administering the Moderna vaccine.