PORTLAND, Ore. — More Oregon seniors have their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Music filled the halls of The Ackerly at Timberland senior living facility in Portland on Friday.
"Feels like a party!" general manager Matt Ryan said.
The entrance decked out in balloons welcomed seniors in for their vaccination appointments.
Ryan helped organize the event with CVS Health for months.
"I'm so excited!" resident Phyllis Schur said.
People living at The Ackerly have been protecting themselves since the pandemic began nearly a year ago.
"We've been in the room for quarantine many times," resident Ginny Fitzhenry described.
Fitzhenry is thankful to receive her first dose.
"I'm looking forward to the next one in three weeks," she said.
CVS, Walgreens and Oregon-based Consonus Pharmacy are part of the federal vaccine distribution program. They have completed hundreds of clinics so far, covering skilled nursing homes first.
Clinics are now open to assisted living, memory care and independent living communities that registered through the federal program. The Ackerly was one of those facilities next in line.
"We along with all our competitors out there are doing the same thing," Ryan said.
Facilities schedule three clinics to ensure staff and residents get both doses.
"So we can take the first steps in fighting this virus and being done with it," Ryan added.
Oregon's skilled nursing homes for more vulnerable patients all completed first doses in mid-January.
This accomplishment was ahead of pharmacies' national goals for the end of January, but nearly a month behind the Trump administration's original plan to vaccinate nursing home residents by Christmas 2020.
However, The Ackerly at Timberland described its interactions with CVS as "seamless."
"We communicated how many vaccinations we would need, and they have provided those," Ryan said.
CVS did not have anyone approved to speak with the media at Friday's local event, but does publish its vaccination data online. Walgreens does the same. Both show thousands of shots have been completed, with thousands more planned.
In mid-January, Oregon Health Care Association CEO Philip Bentley told KGW he hoped the entire senior living sector would be vaccinated by early March.
"[The vaccine] is a life saver, literally," Bentley said. "It will also help many people return to a more normal state of being, being able to see their loved ones again, and I know that's something we're all really looking forward to."
In the meantime, residents of The Ackerly are celebrating a successful clinic.
"The [clinicians] are really good!" Phyllis Schur said.
"As good as it could possibly be," Ginny Fitzhenry added.