Vaccines are within reach for Hoosiers 70 or older, but for those in some local long-term care facilities vaccines are still out of reach.
Multiple Johnson County long-term care facilities are still waiting for vaccination dates, including one of the largest facilities in the county, Compass Park.
Now, without a date scheduled, about a dozen Compass Park families have asked about taking their loved ones out to get a vaccine, said Mike Spencer, the facility’s CEO.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryCompass Park, like other facilities in limbo, is waiting for a call from CVS Health, which is under federal contract to deliver vaccines to long-term facilities across the country.
CVS has administered more than 16,000 long-term care facility vaccines across the state as of Wednesday, according to the state health department.
In late December CVS began administering COVID-19 vaccines at more than 1,000 long-term care facilities across Indiana, with the potential to vaccinate 140,000 Hoosiers, said Charlie Rice-Minoso, a CVS Health spokesperson. Overall, CVS’s goal is to have all long-term care facility vaccinations complete in 12 weeks, by the end of March, he said.
CVS has a goal to get vaccines out to all long-term care facilities as quickly as possible but follows the state directions on where the supply goes first, Rice-Minoso said.
State health officials have directed CVS to vaccinate skilled nursing facilities first. Because of this, not all facilities have been issued dates and some appointments may not be scheduled until after Jan. 18, the date CVS is directed to start vaccinations in assisted living facilities, Rice-Minoso said.
Still, Compass Park, which offers both skilled nursing and assisted living services at its facility, is without a date and with no explanation why, Spencer said.
About 40 employees, including Spencer, have received vaccines outside of the facility because they are eligible as healthcare workers. But residents 70 or older have a more limited ability to do so unless their families are motivated to help, which has left about 420 residents and 280 employees in limbo, Spencer said.
This uncertainty, coupled with the state allowing Hoosiers 70 years old and older to be vaccinated has caused concern among both residents and their families, Spencer said. If the facility had a date, everyone would have greater peace of mind, he said.
Because of that uncertainty, facility leadership is allowing families to pull their loved ones out of Compass Park to get vaccinated, Spencer said. Any resident whose health is good enough to be transported out of the facility may leave for one hour to get a vaccine, he said.
New Whiteland resident Maribeth Alspach pulled her mom, Betty Jo Owen, 94, out of Compass Park Monday to get a vaccine because of that uncertainty.
Alspach had trouble registering for a vaccine so she reached out for help from the Johnson County Health Department for help getting on the schedule. Once the appointment was scheduled, Alspach had to schedule a ride from Johnson County Senior Services, since Owen uses a wheelchair.
All of this inconvenience added to the disappointment that long-term care facility residents are still waiting on a date while other seniors have much easier access to the vaccine, Alspach said.
Though Alspach doesn’t begrudge seniors outside of a long-term care facility a vaccine, she questions why those seniors should get the vaccine before long-term care facility residents, who state officials have called the most vulnerable throughout the pandemic. These seniors are most vulnerable because of their age and comorbidities and because they live in a congregate setting, where the virus can more easily spread.
“Somebody needs to be a voice for these people. A lot of these people (in nursing homes) are from the Greatest Generation. They have made sacrifices and done so much for our country and now they are just being forgotten,” Alspach said. “There’s no excuse for it.”
For Alspach, the difference between the two populations is quality of life. Other seniors are free to continue most activities in their life amidst the pandemic if they choose, but her mom doesn’t get that choice. The longer it takes to get the vaccine to that population, the longer their struggle will continue, Alspach said.
“What needs to be recognized is that for many of them life has changed during the pandemic but it hasn’t stopped,” Alspach said. “They can go to the grocery, to church, to the doctor, the beauty or barbershop, visit family. People like my mom living in nursing homes can’t do any of those things.”
The state’s goal is to get vaccines to the most vulnerable Hoosiers where they are, said Dr. Daniel Rusyniak, the state’s chief medical officer for family and social services at Gov. Eric Holcomb’s weekly press briefing. By opening it up to all seniors, Hoosiers have more choices to get a vaccine, Rusyniak said.
“From our standpoint, that means that Hoosiers have more choice,” Rusyniak said. “If anyone living in an assisted living facility has the means to get there and get back safely, by all means, we encourage them to get the vaccine by the easiest and fastest way possible. We also recognize that some individuals may have mobility issues that really make it difficult to leave the facility. (Because of) that federal partnership it may make more sense for them to get the vaccine on-site when it is scheduled.”
Though Owen had to be removed from the facility for the vaccine, she was happy to be protected against the virus. Luckily, Owen and her friends at the facility have been spared exposure so far, she said.
There have been 60 cases of COVID-19 among Compass Park residents, with one resident currently infected, according to the Monday daily update email from the facility.
For Owen, the worst part of the pandemic has been not seeing her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, she said. Owen has never held her now 8-month-old great-great-granddaughter.
“It is hard not seeing them, but no one else is getting to see theirs either. You just go with what you get,” Owen said.
It had been 10 months since Owen was able to touch Alspach and her grandson, Nick Alspach, who came to the vaccine appointment with them. The journey out of the facility allowed them to reconnect, if only for the hour.
“It has been 10 months since I touched her,” Alspach said. “Of all the horrible things with COVID, the blessing is, today, I got to touch her. If it wasn’t for this I probably wouldn’t have for a least a few more months.”
With the vaccine, Alspach now has a little more hope to they can be together again soon.
