WAUWATOSA — COVID-19 vaccinations are finally underway at St. Camillus - a welcome sight for the assisted living facility, after it was hit hard by the virus less than two months long ago.
"If we all get it, we will all be better off because of it," said one resident, Dorie Loche.
It was a busy day inside the St. Camillus assisted living facility in Wauwatosa, as health care providers began distributing Moderna’s COIVD-19 vaccine to both residents and staff.
"There have been some videos of different nursing homes getting the residents their vaccine, and I’m glad it’s our turn finally," said another resident, Fred Call.
Officials say it took a bit longer for them to get the vaccine rolled out at the facility, because so many people there wanted to get vaccinated.
"There’s a total of 1,000 people here to be vaccinated. We are partnering with the Walgreens pharmacy, and they wanted to get a few of the smaller organizations done first before they tackled such a large place," said Shannon Angell, Chief Operating Officer for St. Camillus.
The vaccinations come just two months after the facility dealt with one of its hardest fights against COVID-19.
"November, we were hit particularly hard for residents. We’ve had about 35 of our residents get sick with COVID and close to half of them have passed away," said Angell.
But now that the vaccines are here, these residents say they’re looking forward to getting back to doing what they love.
"I have a friend, and we’ve been going out for the past year. The pandemic hit and we decided not to go out anymore. So I’d like to get back to getting out to restaurants and going to things. I love going out to see entertainment. We both do," said Call.
Residents and staff that got their vaccines on Tuesday will be able to receive the second round of the Moderna vaccine which is scheduled to be given out on Feb. 9.