KANSAS CITY, Mo — Residents at nursing homes and senior living facilities will be among the first to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved it.
At McCrite Plaza at Briarcliff, in Kansas City, Missouri, most of their more than 200 residents are excited to take the vaccine. The facility is partnering with CVS to administer the vaccinations for its residents.
"I’m absolutely going to take it, I would be first in line if they’d let me," 89-year-old Betty Jo Lewis said.
And she's not worried about any side effects from the vaccine either.
"So you have a few aches or pains because you took it," Lews said. "That’s a small exchange for providing protection for those around you and yourself."
Other McCrite residents also are eager to be vaccinated.
"I’m very excited that they’ve come this fast," resident Bruce Dagley said. "If Dr. Fauci says that’s he’s going to be one of the first in line, that’s good enough for me."
Family members are not currently allowed inside the facility to visit in-person, so taking the vaccine is the first step toward embracing their loved ones again.
"To be able to get together as family, that’s what I’m most excited about, getting back to that," Lewis' daughter-in-law, Kim Lewis, said.
41 Action News spoke with Lewis' family via Zoom, and Kim said it has been difficult to be apart, especially during the holidays.
"FaceTime and Zoom has made it to where we can at least have that face to face connection," Kim Lewis said.
But it's not perfect.
"It’s very lonely and talking on the phone is not the same," Betty Lewis said.
For Kim Lewis, the vaccine will reunite families once again.
"To be able to get that generation back involved with their kids lives and their grandkids and great-grandkids is going to be monumental to us as a society," added Kim.
There is not a target date for when McCrite Plaza at Briarcliff will be able to begin vaccinating residents, but a spokesperson said it could be a matter of days.
