‘SERIOUS COMMITMENT’
Local senior living communities focused on getting residents vaccinated
CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. » As New York state continues to expand its COVID-19 vaccination program, local senior living communities are focused on getting residents vaccinated.
Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and independent living centers around the Capital Region are making efforts to vaccinate their resident populations.
At Van Rensselaer Manor in Troy, a nursing home operated by Rensselaer County, the majority of the 289 total residents have partially or fully received their COVID-19 vaccine. As of last week, 244 have received both shots, and 31 have received one shot.
“We take very seriously our commitment to care and provide for those at the Van Rensselaer Manor,” Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said. “The Van Rensselaer Manor has done an outstanding job of caring for residents during the pandemic, and we appreciate the many positive comments we have received from families and friends about care for their
loved ones.”
He continued, “Getting the vaccines to Manor residents is another step in protecting those in our care. We are eager to provide vaccines to everyone in the county who wants one, and acted quickly to get vaccines to those who wanted them at the Manor. We believe the start of the vaccines is a turning
point in the outbreak.”
The county has also indicated that it will work to keep new Van Rensselaer Manor residents current with vaccines.
Additionally, “We will continue to closely monitor and care for our residents at the VRM, and check the progress of the vaccinations,” McLaugh
lin said. “We look forward to providing even more resources when they become available to protect our Manor residents.”
Vaccine doses are also being administered to eligible seniors who reside at Summit at Eastwyck in North Greenbush. This site is taking action to help residents stay safe by partnering with the independent, familyowned Young’s Pharmacy of Averill Park.
On Wednesday, Young’s Pharmacy administered approximately 130 first doses of the vaccine to Summit at Eastwyck seniors, making about 90 percent of the population there now partially vaccinated.
Because Summit Senior Living communities classify as independent congregate housing, the residents were not eligible for vaccines as described in the state’s 1A group. But now that the qualifications have been expanded, they are.
However, vaccines are in
short supply through the government channels. So Summit looked into other avenues to ensure that residents remain healthy.
Summit Senior Living is looking into making vaccines available to all its residents at its five Capital Region locations, which include Wilton, Glenville, Guilderland and Colonie.
Many residents are having difficulty navigating
the online portals to schedule their own vaccines, so Summit Senior Living is doing everything it can to assist, according to the organization.
“We understand that this is a very scary and confusing process for our residents, and we want to be there for them for every step of the way,” said Jennifer Nelligan, director of sales and marketing at Summit
Senior Living. “We will continue to work with Young’s Pharmacy to try and get all of our Summit residents vaccinated, to continue to keep our communities safe.”
COVID-19 vaccination information for Rensselaer County residents, including instructions on how to make an appointment, is available online at www. rensco.com.
To determine if one is
currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, New York state residents can visit
https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov.