JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nursing home residents and staff in Northeast Florida are expected to begin getting vaccinations for COVID-19 as soon as next week, according to the Florida Healthcare Association.
River City Rehabilitation Center in Jacksonville is scheduled to have providers set up an on-site clinic to vaccinate 80 residents and staff on Monday, Dec. 21, according to facility administrator Connie Bend.
Facilities in Broward and Pinellas County were a priority this week and have residents and staff who are already receiving vaccinations, unlike the rest of the state.
Both Walgreens and CVS have around 2,000 long-term care facilities across the state signed up to receive vaccines, according to the Communications Director of Florida Health Care Association Kristen Knapp.
The vaccinations will be done through COVID-19 immunization clinics, set up on-site at each facility where a team of Department of Health or pharmacy representatives will manage the immunization process. Residents and staff are required to fill out consent forms.
According to the CEO of Florida’s Assisted Living Association, Veronica Catoe, during next weeks expected vaccinations nursing homes will go first and then assisted living facilities in the following weeks.
Doug Adkins, the owner of Day Spring Village Inc. in Nassau County, says he is expecting more than 180 residents and staff in his systems to receive vaccinations before or shortly after the end of the year.
“The day after Christmas to probably Jan. 4 is going to probably be the dates, you’ll see a lot of the assisted living facilities in Northeast Florida to proceed with vaccination,” said Adkins.
Jamie Glavich owns and operates, multiple assisted living facilities for patients with Alzheimer’s in Mandarin and Atlantic Beach. Glavich says another hurdle is buy-in from staff and residents to take the vaccine.
“I’ve been asking informally right now, and I probably have 30 plus residents and clients – say 50 percent – who say ‘yes, go for it,” said Glavich. “There’s some staff members that are a little fearful just like everybody else in America right now.”