1/12/2021 Update: Lyngblomsten community encouraged as more vaccination dates scheduled and number of active cases remains low

January 12, 2021

On December 29 and 30, residents, employees, and essential caregivers of the Lyngblomsten Care Center received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19.  The excitement was palpable those days as hundreds on campus waited patiently to receive the vaccine—and then rejoiced when they did!

We’ve confirmed that CVS Pharmacy will be back on campus January 26 and 27, 2021, to administer the second dose of the Moderna vaccine to those who received the first dose in late December.  On the 26th and 27th, they’ll also be offering the first dose to individuals who weren’t able to receive it in late December.

In addition, we’ve confirmed our vaccination dates for tenants, employees, and essential caregivers of our two housing buildings (the Lyngblomsten Apartments and The Heritage at Lyngblomsten).  CVS Pharmacy will offer the first dose of the Moderna vaccine on January 19 for the Lyngblomsten Apartments and on January 29 for The Heritage at Lyngblomsten.  About a month later, CVS will return to campus to administer the second dose.

As the Lyngblomsten community gives thanks for the availability of a safe, effective vaccine for our older adults and staff, we also are grateful that the number of active cases on our campus has been steadily decreasing over the last three weeks.  Since our most recent website update on Wednesday, January 5, we’ve identified 1 new case in a care center resident, and 3 employees have recovered from the virus.  This means we currently have 1 active care center resident case, 0 active housing tenant cases, and 1 active employee case.

While we’re cautiously optimistic that these numbers indicate the COVID outbreak we experienced in the fall has abated, we remain vigilant in doing everything we can to protect our residents, tenants, and staff from contracting the virus, especially because a more contagious variant of the virus was identified in Minnesota on January 9.  As we have been doing since the pandemic began in March 2020, we are following all guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from screening, to testing, to cohorting, and more.  Through all of the ups and downs, our older adults and staff continue to remain hopeful and to encourage one another every day.