Redstone Highlands' Greensburg staffers, residents get covid vaccines; about half of Pa. nursing homes have been treated

Karen Stock’s 40-year tenure at Redstone Highlands’ Greensburg campus got her an edge Monday — she was the first to get an initial immunization against the coronavirus.

The activity supervisor said she decided to get vaccinated to protect her husband and those who are cared for there.

“Our residents are very important to us, too,” Stock said. “They’re such a vulnerable population.”

President and CEO John Dickson said 318 staff and nursing residents at the Greensburg center on Monday were set to get their first dose of the vaccine. Staff from Walgreens was on hand to administer the inoculations under the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed. They will be back in February to deliver second doses.

About 80% of residents and staff indicated interest in getting immunized, something Dickson attributed in part to a steady flow of information about the vaccine released by Redstone, along with employees available to answer questions.

Those who were inoculated at the Greensburg site yesterday got buttons that said “Covid Vaccine Superhero.”

“I think everybody feels a sense of relief,” Dickson said. “It’s one step towards freedom, being able to socialize again.”

He compared it to Christmas morning.

“I feel very relieved and I think the community at large should be very relieved,” he said. “This felt like a present.”

Dickson wasn’t sure when the vaccination clinics would make it to Redstone’s Murrysville and North Huntingdon locations. It was also unclear when the vaccine might be available to Redstone’s independent living residents.

The vaccine first became available to skilled nursing facilities in Pennsylvania on Dec. 28, the day Westmoreland Manor staff and residents got it.

Pennsylvania Health Care Association President and CEO Zach Shamberg said it appears about half of the state’s roughly 700 nursing homes had vaccine clinics through the end of last week. Two spreadsheets showed that about 350 skilled nursing facilities were visited by pharmacists with CVS or Walgreens under Operation Warp Speed. Updated information for clinics this week was not available.

“We would like to see things move faster,” Shamberg said.

There are 1,200 licensed personal care and other facilities statewide that could have vaccine clinics under the federal partnership at the same time CVS and Walgreens pharmacists are returning to nursing facilities to administer the second round of the immunizations, he said. There needs to be more investment for staff levels of those pharmacies to keep up with the future demand, he said.

The association has been advocating for protection and prioritization of long-term care facilities since the pandemic began.

“It’s not different with the vaccine,” Shamberg said.

Dickson believes it took a couple weeks after the initial rollout for Redstone’s turn because of its low infection rate. The facility has been working with ReturnSafe, a smartphone application that employees consult every day to see if they are free of symptoms and cleared to come to work.

ReturnSafe chief medical officer Dr. Reef Gillum said the app has had to evolve as many facilities are now having some staff members who are vaccinated and others who aren’t.

“Nobody knows how long those antibodies are going to last,” he said.