12/19/20 Update: Lyngblomsten prepares for vaccination of care center residents, housing tenants, and staff
December 19, 2020
Late last week, the United States reached an important milestone in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic when a vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech was granted emergency use authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A second EUA was issued yesterday for a vaccine developed by Moderna, and more are expected to be granted for other COVID-19 vaccines in the weeks ahead.
Lyngblomsten is overjoyed at this news, as making a vaccine available to our residents, tenants, employees, and the public at large will help curtail the spread of the virus on our campus and eventually, once enough people have immunity, enable us to open up our buildings again to family, friends, volunteers, and the community.
In a December 8 guidance document, the Minnesota Department of Health outlined how the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines should be prioritized among Minnesotans, as it will take several months before the state receives enough to provide vaccination to everyone. The MDH guidance states that residents and personnel of skilled-nursing facilities are among those to have first priority to receive the vaccine, with persons who live and work in senior housing settings next in line.
Based on this guidance, we expect to be able to vaccinate residents and staff of the Lyngblomsten Care Center first, followed soon after by tenants and staff from our two senior housing buildings (the Lyngblomsten Apartments and The Heritage at Lyngblomsten). We are working with MDH, LeadingAge Minnesota (our industry representative), and our pharmacy provider to coordinate when and how our residents, tenants, and employees will receive the vaccine. We’ve informed our residents and tenants, their families, and our staff of this news, and we’ll continue to provide updates in the weeks ahead.
As we await a vaccine, Lyngblomsten continues to follow all guidance from federal and state health agencies to mitigate the spread of the virus on our campus. This includes testing residents, tenants, and staff regularly; placing individuals on 14-day precautionary quarantines if they have a high-risk exposure with someone who tests positive for the virus; screening residents and employees daily for symptoms of COVID-19; wearing facemasks and eye protection (goggles and/or a face shield); and practicing social distancing.
We also continue to communicate regularly (i.e., multiple times per week) with our residents and tenants, their families, and our staff on the status of our campus’ COVID-19 cases. As of today (December 19), Lyngblomsten has 9 active care center resident cases, 1 active housing tenant case, and 10 active employee cases.
