Vaccinations in the Home

In December 2020, nearly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the FDA issued an authorization for emergency use (AEU) of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine. Among the first to be eligible for vaccination were immunocompromised individuals, those over sixty-five years old, and healthcare professionals. Since the Holland Christian Home is a long-term care facility, everyone in the facility was eligible to receive the vaccine. On January 12, 2022, the Holland Home administered its first round of COVID-19 vaccines. Now, just over a year after the initial release of the COVID-19 vaccine, 95% of our Residents and 96% of our Staff at the Holland Home are vaccinated. These numbers are higher than the state average for long-term care facilities. In an effort to encourage receiving the COVID vaccine, the Holland Home held multiple vaccine clinics throughout 2021 and another one already in 2022. The most recent clinic was held in mid-January and offered standard COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots. Because of the accessibility of the booster doses, 59% of Holland Home Staff is”boosted”, compared to the New Jersey average of 43%. The release of the vaccine enabled life to “open-up” again at the Holland Home. The state lifted regulations which reinstated visitation, communal dining, and group activities possible. “I think that’s why so many of our Residents got the vaccine,” said Kimberly Veinberg, Director of Regulatory Compliance, “because they wanted their lives to return to normal as much as possible.” Though the Omicron variant has caused cases to rise statewide, our Residents continued to enjoy freedom and an increase in their quality of life due to the COVID-19 vaccine.