After weeks of waiting, a push to vaccinate Florida’s assisted living facilities

When the first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine went into arms of Florida’s long-term care residents and staff, Gov. Ron DeSantis promised that the state’s most vulnerable — the 4.5 million residents over 65 — would be prioritized in the inoculation process.

That was in mid-December, during a press conference at a Pompano Beach nursing home where 90 residents became among the nation’s first to be vaccinated. The state health department also deployed a “strike team” of professionals at the time to help with nursing home vaccinations.

A few days later, on Dec. 23 — with nursing home vaccinations still ramping up and assisted living vaccinations still not begun — DeSantis issued an executive order that made anyone 65 and older eligible for the vaccine.

From there, demand soared. Phone lines to hospitals crashed across the state, websites glitched and thousands of appointments were snatched up minutes after online portals opened. Many assisted living facilities were left waiting for word from the state — which had contracted with CVS and Walgreens — about when they would get their shots.

“Once the governor opened the floodgates for anyone 65 and older, that changed the pace of everything,” said Rick Oppenheim, a spokesman for the Florida Assisted Living Association. “We are still uncertain of why ALFs haven’t been more of a priority.”

On Friday, Division of Emergency Management spokesman Jason Mahon wrote in an email that the state is expecting to vaccinate all long-term care residents by the end of the month. He wouldn’t answer questions about how many that is.

But the state’s Division of Emergency Management has tapped a private company from Miami that has operated COVID test sites, CDR Maguire, to vaccinate assisted living residents by Jan. 23, if they are not already scheduled for a shot with CVS or Walgreens.

In a memo sent to providers Jan. 7, the Agency for Healthcare Administration wrote that “in accordance with Governor DeSantis’ efforts to expedite vaccinations for assisted living facility residents and staff,” the private company would contact assisted living facilities to make arrangements for vaccinations.

CDR has started vaccinating residents of assisted living facilities in Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, according to a memo sent to providers Thursday. Additional counties will begin the week of Jan. 18.

The company has been directed to assist with vaccinating all assisted living facilities in the state, moving from one county to the next until all have been vaccinated, the memo said. Facilities should “immediately prepare and be ready,” as notice could be given as soon as 24 hours in advance, including on weekends.

The company would not comment for this story, referring all questions to the state.

Assisted living resident Lorraine Spann, 94, was one of those whose Feb. 23 appointment with Walgreens at her Wilton Manors facility was changed to Jan. 20 with CDR Maguire.

Her son, Ronald Spann, 71, of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, said he felt the first date was “outrageous,” and was happy to hear the Miami company had been brought on.

“It will be great, if it actually happens,” Spann said.

Assisted living facilities ‘secondary’

Assisted living facilities faced some of the state’s first coronavirus outbreaks and deaths in March, after which the state vowed to send “strike teams” for contact tracing and prioritize for personal protective equipment.

And while the state’s approximately 3,100 assisted living facilities were included in the state’s draft vaccination blueprint, they were not included in the initial rollout of the federal pharmacy partnership plan with CVS and Walgreens, which vaccinated the bulk of the state’s nursing home residents and staff.

“While nursing homes do provide a higher level of care and their residents tend to be more at risk, ALFs were sort of put in a secondary position when it came to the priority order for vaccines,” Oppenheim said.

CVS and Walgreens only began inoculating assisted living residents and staff Jan. 11, a date that CVS spokesman Joseph Goode said was chosen by the state of Florida.

Geoffrey Aaronson, 69, of Miami Beach, said he was disappointed to see his partner get a vaccine appointment before his 94-year-old mother, Lily Aaronson, who lives at a Miami Jewish Health assisted living facility in Little Haiti.

He believed assisted living residents were the first priority under the governor’s orders, he said.

“That just hasn’t been the case,” said Aaronson, whose mother will be getting her shot on Tuesday, two days after he gets his vaccine at Mount Sinai Medical Center. “I think there’s been an inordinate delay. My problem has been the misrepresentation with regard to the priority.”

Some ALFs are still waiting

Veronica Catoe, CEO of the Florida Assisted Living Association, said while the situation has improved since CDR Maguire was brought on, there are still facilities that have yet to be given vaccination dates.

“While the effort appears to be on a positive trajectory, frustration and confusion remains over the initial rollout of vaccinations in ALFs and why these communities appear to have been prioritized behind nursing homes and many in the general, 65-and-older population,” she said in a statement.

Further complicating the vaccine rollout was news Friday that federal vaccine allocations to the states, which have already been limited, will not increase as planned. According to The Washington Post, there are no vaccine “reserves” to be released, as promised by the federal government.

Neither the state Division of Emergency Management nor the Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees long-term care facilities, responded to requests for comment on how this will affect the vaccine distribution program in assisted living facilities.

Brian Lee, a former Florida long-term care ombudsman who now leads an organization called Families for Better Care, said he’s noticed assisted living facilities have had to “play catch up” to nursing homes throughout the pandemic, and called the delayed vaccination “a travesty on so many levels.”

More than 8,671 residents of long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19, according to state data.

“Nursing homes were prioritized for testing, PPE, and the ALFs were left to fend for themselves,” he said. “The ALFs are no stranger to deaths. They need the vaccine as soon as possible.”

Kathryn Moore, the assistant administrator at Miami’s Bay Oaks Historic Retirement Residence, said she feels like assisted living facilities are often left behind, and was disappointed when she learned through media reports that they were not included in the December vaccination effort.

She felt relieved, however, when Walgreens came to the facility Wednesday to vaccinate the 44 residents and staff.

“I feel like I was waiting for Jan. 13 since March 13,” she said. “I’m exhausted.”