Residents and staff at Canby’s three long-term care facilities had the opportunity to receive the Covid-19 vaccine recently — bringing what health experts say is the best available protection against the coronavirus to those most vulnerable and the front-line health care workers who serve them.
Country Side Living, which specializes in memory care and was the first nursing home in Canby to experience a Covid outbreak, offered the vaccine to residents and staff at a series of clinics that began Tuesday.
Country Side spokeswoman Michele Quinn told The Canby Current their staff received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech in clinics that were administered by Bristol Hospice.
“We are very grateful to Bristol Hospice for their assistance and ongoing support to our residents and staff throughout this pandemic,” she said.
Staff members did not report any side effects other than a sore arm, Quinn added.
The second dose, which is needed for full efficacy of the vaccine, will be administered in three weeks, she said, along with an opportunity to receive a first dose for those who missed this clinic.
A final clinic will be held in late February to wrap up Country Side’s vaccinations.
Rackleff Place Assisted Living also held a clinic this week, reporting on their Facebook page that it “went great.”
“We at Rackleff hope that this means we are [one] step closer to normalcy,” the nursing home on Southwest 13th Avenue said. “Our staff and residents were all champs about it! No tears or whiners here!”
Finally, Marquis Companies — which manages an assisted living, rehab and memory care facility on the campus of the Hope Village Senior Living Community — announced this week that it was ahead of the game: offering the second round of vaccinations to residents and staff in Canby.
Consonus Pharmacy, which is also owned by Marquis and specializes in service to long-term care facilities, has been markedly more successful in administering the vaccine than other providers.
Consonus began administering the Covid-19 vaccine on Dec. 21 — one week before retail pharmacies — and has remained ahead of schedule. More than 40% of Oregonians over 60 who have been vaccinated received their shots from Consonus.
Consonus, which is also the pharmacy provider for Country Side and Rackleff, expects to administer both rounds of vaccinations to nearly 20,000 residents and staff members of long-term care facilities by Feb. 21, encompassing more than 200 facilities in Oregon, Washington and Nevada.
Marquis spokeswoman Jenna Cooper told the Current that the first doses of vaccine were offered in Canby Dec. 26, and the second round on Jan. 14. Cooper said 85% of Marquis Hope Village residents and 65% of staff opted to be immunized.
The Marquis Hope Village Post-Acute Rehab facility in Canby was the location of one of the state’s largest and deadliest outbreaks last summer.
Those who are older, more infirm and live in congregate care settings are known to be more vulnerable to serious complications from the novel coronavirus.
About half of Oregon’s 1,700 Covid-related deaths have been linked to long-term care facilities — the vast majority of them residents with other underlying conditions.
