MOLINE, Ill. — With vaccines rolling out nationwide, the residents and staff inside Bickford Senior Living of Moline are next. Those living and working at long term care facilities are in the first phase to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and at Bickford, doses can be available as soon as the first week of January.
"We're partnering with a national pharmacy company to provide the vaccine," Divisional Director of Operations Beth Fleming says.
She says the vaccine will come from Walgreens, as a part of the Long Term Care program through the CDC's partnership with national pharmacies.
"They're actually going to send one of their technicians to us," Fleming says.
The jab will come in three phases for residents and staff.
"We don't want vaccinate everyone all at once because we want be cautious of any side effects or signs and symptoms that may develop from a vaccine," Fleming says.
The entire process is expected to stretch out over a month or so into February.
"I think everybody's ready for it," Fleming says. "They have really realized in these last eight months how really detrimental this can be and how it's really changed and affected all of our lives. I think everybody is much more open to the vaccine, and we're hoping for good participation."
Fleming and the Bickford team hope as many people get vaccinated as possible to help improve resident quality of life and return to a sense of normalcy.
"We have had to limit visitors, and we've put restrictions on the branch," she says. "That's very difficult for residents who rely on seeing their grandchildren and hugging their children, and so they rely on us for a lot of that."
As the vaccination is optional, residents are receiving information about the doses in order to make a decision.