NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — We’re all waiting for a coronavirus vaccine to become available but one local family is especially ready for it.
The CDC wants people in nursing homes to be among the first to get it.
Channel 2′s Sophia Choi spoke to a couple whose mother is in a Roswell living facility, and they haven’t given her a huge in nearly a year.
Their mother battled COVID-19 for weeks but she survived and is doing just fine.
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The family of 62-year-old Joan Ceasar said they’re all ready to take the vaccine so that they can be healthy and together again.
“When the country shut down back in February. And now we’re here in December, that’s how long it’s been since I held my mother in my arms,” Zackrey Ceasar said.
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But now a simple shot might bring them back together.
“We want to make sure that regardless she’s safe, everyone around us is safe. And so if it means being vaccinated, that’s what we will do so we can be with her again,” Angel Ceasar said.
Joan Ceasar and thousands of other Georgia nursing home residents will be among the first to get the coronavirus vaccine soon.
It’s a possible savior for residents and the centers that house them.
“The last eight months have probably been the most trying time in the history of long-term care,” said Tony Marshall from the Georgia Healthcare Association.
The Georgia Healthcare Association said last year, about 34,000 people lived in a Georgia long-term care facility.
Now, it’s below 28,000. The low population is costing facilities more than $1 million a day in lost revenue.
“The vaccine coming simply offers an opportunity to have some ray of hope,” Marshall said.
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The vaccine is also offering some hope to the residents and their families, too, despite concerns.
“You get nervous about a new vaccine. They came up with it so fast when something like HIV has been around centuries, or at least years. So that makes it a little scared,” Zackrey Ceasar said.
The fact that Joan Ceasar survived COVID-19 played a big role in this family’s decision to get the vaccine when it’s available.
“That makes me a little more comfortable. Simple, because she’s had covid and beat it, so what’s to it for a vaccine that could possibly help her, right?” Zackrey Ceasar said.
And that’s why the family is willing to take the vaccine.