Two skilled nursing facilities in Valley receive virus vaccine
LANCASTER — Two out of five skilled nursing facilities in the Antelope Valley have received the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday, leaving one long-time registered nurse, at one facility, wondering when they will be next.
The nurse, who asked not to be named, works at Desert Canon Post Acute next to Antelope Valley Hospital. The facility posted a notice about two weeks ago saying that employees and patients ought to be vaccinated by Dec.21. As of Tuesday, the employee said they were told they would probably get the vaccine this week.
“So, after losing a large percentage of our patients to the virus and having a multitude of staff sick for weeks including one in critical condition, we are still waiting to be vaccinated,” the nurse wrote in an email. “Our patients and staff who have not yet become infected are continuously being exposed every day.”
The facility has 99 beds.
“We had an outbreak in November and we had 85 patents when the outbreak started,” the nurse said in a telephone interview. “We have 53 patients now and almost all of those missing patients are dead. That’s how bad it is.”
Another employee is on a ventilator at AV Hospital.
An official with Desert Canyon Post Acute did not immediately return a call for comment.
“I’m just upset because lack of communication, lack of information,” the nurse said. “I don’t believe the public understands what’s
really going on. It’s a lot more serious and I think the general public believes that all front-line workers are already getting vaccinated, and then of course the patients.”
According to the nurse, any patient who has tested positive for COVID-19 will be isolated for 14 days. The patient will be returned to the general population after 14 days without being retested. The employee said a patient who tested positive allegedly infected another patient after they shared a room.
Staff members who test positive are told to go home. If they do not get sick, they are allowed to return to work.
“They don’t retest anybody,” the nurse said.
According to the Los Angeles Office of Emergency Management, 66,000 LA County healthcare workers have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
LA County on Tuesday announced the launch of a partnership with the City of Los Angeles and public health service start-up Curative to deliver and administer the COVID-19 Moderna vaccines to staff and residents of skilled nursing facilities throughout the county, county officials said.
The first Moderna vaccines were delivered to 59 nursing home facilities already. Additional skilled nursing facilities indicating that they need assistance with vaccination have been assigned to Curative, the county, or city staff for assistance, the county officials said.
“Skilled Nursing Facilities have been hit hard by COVID-19, accounting for close to 3,000 deaths,” Barbara Ferrer, director of Public Health, said in a statement. “The partnership with Curative and the City of Los Angeles will allow us to vaccinate SNF residents and staff quicker and with the flexibility needed to reach the 339 skilled nursing facilities in Los Angeles County.”