93 year old Eleonore Kueber is Grey County’s first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The resident of Maple View Long-term Care Home in Owen Sound was given the vaccine by Public Health Nurse Lisa Lambkin.
The sound of laughter of residents and staff inside the home getting vaccinated could be heard through an open window, while Kueber stood outside Friday to briefly tell media (who stood, masked & at a distance outdoors) about the experience.
Kueber says it’s a necessary thing, “It has to be done, I think.” She notes she’s feeling good. She says what she most looks forward to when restrictions lift is being able to see her cat Tessie, whom she hasn’t seen in months due to the pandemic.
Kueber was accompanied by her daughter Maggie who expressed relief to see vaccines being administered, “This is really important. Most people don’t get it but it’s really important for us, for the staff and especially for the people here.”
Maple View had a large outbreak that affected most of its residents in the spring of 2020. At the height of testing in the home, 22 of 29 patients had tested positive for COVID-19. Maggie Kueber says that was a scary time, “It was very bad,” notes Kueber who said their fears were made worse at the time hearing about deaths in long-term care homes elsewhere in the province including Toronto, “I’m so grateful that nobody actually died here,” says Kueber.
The age of residents at Maple View range from 62 years old to a resident who turns 101 in March.
At the same time this morning, at Golden Dawn Senior Citizen Home in Lion’s Head, Bruce County’s first vaccine was given to 71 year old Nora Foster.
This first shipment of 200 vaccines will cover residents and staff of both those homes.
Maple View Executive Director Tracee Givens says residents are excited to receive the vaccine and none of them are hanging back, “They’re ready to go. We even had one gentleman show up to the vaccination area before anyone was even ready to go looking for his. So it’s very exciting,” says Givens.
Medical Officer of Health Dr Ian Arra says as soon as more vaccines are shipped to the area, they will go to more vulnerable people in the region. A second shipment of the vaccine is expected to arrive in Grey Bruce on January 25th with approximately 800 doses.
Public Health says the order of vaccine rollout is based on the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization Plan.
Arra says it takes about 15 days for the vaccine to give a person some level of immunity. A second dose follows about 20 days later which brings it up to about 94.5 per cent.
Arra says getting the vaccine out is a community effort, from the paramedics who help to administer the vaccine, to the police who escorted it to the homes and made sure the homes and vaccines were secure, to the staff of the homes for helping to ensure residents’ safety.
Arra says, “This is a really good day. Walking into the long-term facility, it’s the first time I’ve walked into a certain facility and there is so much joy. It feels like Christmas. People are smiling, people are laughing and this is what we hope we will deliver to all Grey Bruce in a few weeks from now.”