Long-term care facilities getting ready to vaccinate residents for COVID-19

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - With FDA authorization granted for emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccine roll-out to front line health care workers and long-term care facilities is imminent in Kansas. A nurse in New York was one of the first to receive a shot Monday.

According to Midwest Health, a company that owns multiple senior living facilities throughout Kansas, the vaccine could arrive later this month.

The facilities are currently registered with Walgreens and CVS which will be providing vaccines at the facilities.

“They will fully administer the vaccine on-site to our seniors and to our staff members so we don’t have to transfer the residents anywhere,” Ala Ellis, a spokeswoman for Midwest Health told KSNT News in Topeka.

Nursing homes have lost a number of residents due to COVID-19 in Kansas.

“Folks especially in long-term care facilities haven’t been able to live as freely as they normally would,” said Ellis. “They don’t get to see their families as freely as they normally would so we are hopeful that the vaccine gets to seniors.”

Kansas’ vaccine plan calls for the first shots to go to front-line health care workers with a high risk of coronavirus exposure, including workers in nursing homes, as well as nursing home residents. The governor said last week that the second phase will focus on vaccinating essential workers, including first responders but also grocery store and meatpacking plant workers.