The residents and staff of Poet’s Seat Health Care Center on High Street in Greenfield were the first people living or working in the county’s nursing homes to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.
According to the other nursing homes, the Farren Care Center in Montague and LaBelle’s Rest Home in Shelburne Falls, they all expected to follow soon after, with Charlene Manor Extended Care on Colrain Road in Greenfield receiving the vaccine Tuesday.
“It was such a great experience for everyone,” Poet’s Seat Health Care Center co-owner and Administrator Michele Carney said. “The day went wonderfully. The medical staff and administrators went first, so that inspired most others to take it. We made sure we educated everyone about it ahead of time.”
Carney said 16 pharmacists and technicians arrived at the nursing home from Walgreens pharmacy on Monday morning to administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination.
Forty-five of its 46 residents received the vaccine — one refused — as did 20 staff members and five “regular” outside support staff. Carney and Dr. Joseph Viadero, the facility’s medical director, were the first to be vaccinated.
“Walgreens was wonderful,” she said. “There were enough people from there, so that there could be two in every room as they vaccinated residents, and they waited 15 minutes in each room to make sure everyone who received it was fine.”
Carney said the experience was uplifting. She and Viadero strongly believe the vaccine is the only way the virus will be eradicated over time.
“I’m so glad we got to be part of history, the history of healing,” she said.
Carney said Walgreens will return Jan. 18 to administer the second dose and 34 more staff members will receive the first dose. She said nine staff members refused the vaccine, but she and others are attempting to “change their minds.”
“We decided to stagger when the staff got it, so we could be sure there were no problems leading to call-outs,” Carney said. “We want to make sure we can deliver consistent care to our residents.”
On Feb. 8, the second group who receive their first dose in January will receive their second dose.
“We’re looking forward to things turning around,” Carney said.
She said the nursing home had more than 30 positive COVID-19 cases in the 63-bed facility in the spring, with 19 deaths reported. It has done much better during the second local surge of the disease, reporting no cases. She said she hopes the vaccine will stop the virus at the door.
On the other side of the region, Monday morning, Quabbin Valley Healthcare on Daniel Shays Highway in Athol was one of the first nursing homes to conduct a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for its residents and staff with CVS/Omnicare pharmacy, Assistant Administrator Michael Kachadoorian said.
“Nursing homes across the state have been paired with a pharmacy — CVS or Walgreens — and back in the fall when this program was announced, QVH signed up for it immediately,” he said. “We were notified of our clinic date of Dec. 28 just before the Christmas holiday.”
Quabbin Valley Healthcare had been unaffected by the pandemic in the spring, summer and fall, but had its first outbreak in early December. Twenty-seven residents and 19 staff members tested positive for COVID-19 and eight deaths were reported there over the past couple of weeks.
“It is a very difficult situation emotionally to have come so far without any cases and then have an outbreak of both residents and staff,” he said. “Knowing the clinic was on its way and just three weeks out from our outbreak was heart-wrenching.
“The family of residents and staff at the facility mean a lot to all of us,” Kachadoorian continued. “It’s a close-knit community and the overwhelming support from our neighbors has been extraordinary. The emotional toll this is taking on everyone, across the nursing home industry and across the country, is a heavy one. We have bonds with each and every person who entrusts us with their care — we are neighbors taking care of neighbors.”
On Monday, seven pharmacists arrived with the vaccine and close to 75 percent of the residents were eligible to receive their first dose, he said. Almost 100 percent consented, but not everyone could receive it — some will be eligible for a first dose when CVS returns on Jan. 18 for the second round for most. More than 50 percent of the staff were vaccinated, and others will be on Jan. 18. A third clinic will be scheduled for February.
Licensed Practical Nurse and Unit Manager Jess McGivern and Peter Gartland, a longstanding resident at the facility, were the first two to receive the shot simultaneously.
“They agreed to have the shot at the same time, a very special moment for all of us to witness,” Kachadoorian said. “This is the first step in what we hope, over time, will be the end of this pandemic. We all still have a long way to go, but this was an historic first step at Quabbin Valley Healthcare.”
The residents and staff of the Farren Care Center in Montague will receive their Pfizer vaccines Saturday.
Spokesperson Christine Looby said everyone who lives or works at the long-term care facility will have the opportunity to be vaccinated. She said that number is around 250 total, but she isn’t sure yet whether everyone will take it.
The Farren Care Center has reported between one and 10 positive COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks, but Looby said it is company policy to not break that number down into how many residents or staff. There have been no deaths there.
She said the vaccine will be administered a second time on a date to be announced.
Lisa Gaudet, vice president of business development and marketing for Berkshire Healthcare, the company that owns Charlene Manor, said all staff and residents were offered the vaccine Tuesday.
“That’s 96 residents and 178 staff members, which includes physicians, nurse practitioners, temps and those in palliative care,” Gaudet said.
As of noon on Tuesday, Gaudet had learned that 66 percent or 117 of the staff had been vaccinated, but she didn’t have the number of residents who accepted it.
Also as of Tuesday, the facility reported 14 residents and seven staff members were positive with COVID-19. Staff members were resting at home, while residents were staying in the facility’s COVID-19 unit.
The nursing home on Laurel Street in Greenfield has reported on its website that none of its residents have tested positive for COVID-19 this fall, unlike in the spring when Buckley got hit hard with more than 30 positive cases and 26 deaths.
Several attempts to reach the facility’s spokesperson about vaccinations were made, but to no avail by press time.
The 14 residents and 10 staff members at LaBelle’s Rest Home on High Street in Shelburne Falls were still waiting for a date of their first vaccine on Tuesday, but Jen Brothers, head “responsible person” at the facility, said Walgreens will contact her and Carole Musante, acting administrator, when ready.
“We’re finishing up all the required paperwork and waiting for a date,” Brothers said. “We anticipate it to be really soon, probably this week.”
Brothers said there haven’t been any cases at the assisted living facility throughout the entire pandemic.
“We test staff weekly,” she said. “We also limit exposure as much as possible.”
For instance, when staff members shop for their families, they check with residents to see if they need anything.
We stay out of public as much as possible,” she said.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.