December 18, 2020
Dear Residents and Family Members,
I am writing to share the most recent information we have received as of yesterday with regard to COVID-19 Vaccinations. There is a flurry of information being circulated as you can imagine, and we are doing our best to receive and report on everything that we know as soon as we have confirmed it.When determining who will receive the first round of vaccinations, the government has deemed Long Term Care facilities to be among the first. Long term care, in their assessment, refers to those who reside in licensed healthcare communities.
In terms of Seacrest, this means that our Independent Living Residents will not be a part of the first round of vaccinations as Independent Living is not a licensed healthcare building.The first question is: So when will our Independent Living Residents be vaccinated?
And the answer is that we just do not know. There has been no communication from the government yet as to when this will take place. When we received this information, we began lobbying on behalf of our Independent Living Residents, as we wanted to make sure it was accurate and unchangeable before we reported to you. As of this moment, there has not been a change to include our Independent Living Residents in the first round of those to be vaccinated.
We are not different from any other community that has Independent Living and is not licensed as a healthcare provider.
What we can tell you is that this is our greatest task, besides keeping everyone on campus safe, and we are working round the clock to lobby, gather data, and then report back to you.
What we would suggest at this moment is that we all be patient. We also suggest that you contact your primary care provider to inquire and let it be known that you are not able to receive the vaccination at Seacrest and that you would like it as soon as possible. In the meantime, we will continue to try to find ways to get you the vaccine. If it turns out that you can all get them together, perhaps at CVS although that is uncertain, then we can arrange transportation.
Let me reiterate that we are doing everything that we can to find a way to get you vaccinated as soon as possible. This letter is to let you know where we are today and to promise you, as we have done every step of the way, that we are working for you.
Most sincerely,
Pam Ferris
President and CEO
The Melvin Garb Foundation Presidential Chair