Nursing homes desperate for speedy vaccine arrival and additional staffers
ATLANTA - The pressure is mounting to get the vaccine to those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.
FOX 5's Alex Whittler spoke to a woman anxious to find out the latest in her sister's battle with COVID-19. That patient is one of dozens who have tested positive for the virus at AG Rhodes' Boulevard facility in Atlanta.
Workers there say they aren't just dealing with a surge in cases, but also staffing challenges.
"I'm petrified of this covid," Ernestine Harris said Monday.
Harris says the vaccine can't get to her sister soon enough.
She says an AG Rhodes nurse called her with an unsettling update last week: her sister's roommate contracted covid-19, and she has the virus too.
"The other night her temperature was 102-point-something," she said.
Judith Andrews, 79, suffered from a stroke that sent her to AG Rhodes facility years ago.
"I don't want to go through that again with the pandemic," Harris said.
The Boulevard location is now experiencing an uptick in coronavirus cases, like much of the country, this holiday season.
A representative tells FOX5 "From mid-December until now, 55 residents have test positive. Fortunately, the majority of these residents...appear to be asymptomatic or experiencing mild to moderate symptoms. Nineteen of these residents no longer have active COVID cases."
Department of Public Health data indicates one person has died at the facility, but Harris says she's concerned things will take a turn as the number of cases doubled in one week, and nurses say they're short staffed.
"I understand they're busy but if they can't handle the load, let families know that so they can move somewhere else," Harris said.
Representatives confirmed a staff shortage, but assert they "are currently still able to staff above mandatory staffing levels as outlined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)."
Some form of relief is on the way.
The Georgia Department of Public Health says more than 95 percent of long-term care facilities in the state are working with CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate staff and residents.
Nearly 40,000 doses of the vaccine are ready for distribution, and the DPH says additional doses will be shipped over the next two weeks.
AG Rhodes representatives say CVS will administer the covid-19 vaccine January 7.
Harris says she hopes by the time doses arrive, it won't be too late.
"Tomorrow is not promised so we need to do it now," she said.
There is a hotline available now in Georgia. The number is 888-357-0169. AG Rhodes representatives encourage anyone with experience in assisted living facilities to apply on their website, agrhodes.org/careers.