Manorcare Lely Palms residents gearing up for second vaccine dose

In just a few short weeks, people inside our senior living facilities will receive their second and final COVID-19 vaccine dose. Meanwhile, some have yet to receive their first dose.

For months, Roger Kyle’s only glimpse of sunshine has been seeing his wife from his window. “Which is almost unacceptable, but I have to live with it,”  Kyle said.

“She’s 61 years old and I don’t know what I would do without her shes my lifeline. She does everything for me,” said Kyle.

Roger has been staying at Manorcare Lely Palms for therapy. He’s been through so much as a Vietnam veteran.

“You already lost a leg so I feel like you’re a tough guy,” Kyle said.

While the pandemic has been a tough battle, and now he and many other patients here will combat the virus with a second round of vaccines.

Duane Smith works with Manorcare Lely Palms. “January 11th is when the first group will get their second one and the second group will get their first,” Smith said.

Smith says that no healthcare worker or patient has had side effects from the vaccine so far. “This is all new ground for all of us completely different so when this process started our sister facilities up north reached out to ask about how the process went,” said Smith.

Other adult care facilities like The Arlington Naples expects the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the next couple of weeks. Jessica work at The Arlington.

“While we promote people to receive it and we educate them thoroughly about the data that shows its safety,” Jessica said. “Still, people are a little bit questionable about receiving it themselves so we are hoping at future dates we will have more people participate.”

Kyle sees another dose as a window of opportunity. “So I can go home. That’s the main thing,” he said.

The vaccine is not mandatory at any of the facilities WINK News spoke with. About 50 residents at Manocare Lely Palms are expected to get the second vaccine dose. But, they will continue to practice social distancing and mask-wearing.