When the state of Arizona released its COVID-19 Vaccination Plan on Oct. 20, 2020 [updated and reaffirmed most recently on Jan. 15], it separated out different types of Arizona residents for different phases of vaccine distribution.
Health care workers were put at the very top of the list, in Phase 1A, leading to Verde Valley Medical Center and other health care providers in the Verde Valley beginning vaccinations on Dec. 22.
Assisted living providers were also put into Phase 1A, along with skilled nursing facilities, which were vaccinated in the Verde Valley between Dec. 28 and Jan. 13. However, while the first assisted living facilities in the state got vaccinated starting in late December, it took until the past week for facilities in the area to get their own staff and residents inoculated.
“Vaccinations took place on Feb. 1. Five residents at Page Springs and five at Agape Terrace. One resident at Page Springs had gone to her doctor’s office to get hers a few weeks ago,” Dione Cozens, head of Page Springs Living and Agape Terrace, wrote in an email. Like most facilities in the area, Cozens’ had been working with a nationwide pharmacy chain — in her case CVS, though others signed up through Walgreens — to get vaccinated, but faced uncertainty and delays until recently.
“It is a relief to get them vaccinated,” Cozens wrote. “I just wish more staff had chosen to do so.”
The Cottonwood Village, one of the largest assisted and independent living facilities in the Verde Valley, vaccinated over 100 residents, in addition to numerous staff, on Thursday, Feb. 5. CVS provided the vaccine, with the assistance of contracted nursing staff administering the shots. The Village plans for the second round of shots in four weeks, at which point any residents who did not get inoculated this week can get their first shot as well.
“The anxiety of ‘What’s going to happen if I get sick?’ is relieved,” Cottonwood Village Executive Director Jerrold Ayers said. “We know the vaccine is not going to make everything go away immediately, but it’s a step. A lot of the people of their generation are used to taking those steps and putting their head down and getting things done. So this vaccine — the first round anyway — has them very optimistic. A lot of the fear of the unknown has been melted away a little bit.”
The Village has had a difficult year, with outbreaks among residents that led to some deaths from the virus in early summer as well as in October, though Ayers said the facility has been able to keep the virus out in the months since. Ayers insisted that the vaccine does not mean that the facility will reduce precautions, which include not just masks, social distancing and hand-washing requirements, but also limitations on visitors from outside the facility.
“It’s been very hard on residents to be without their families,” Diana Rose, activities director at the Cottonwood Village, said. “It’s been hard on residents to be estranged from the volunteer base that we usually have in the building. We still have to look for the magic, to release them from loneliness and depression. It’s harder now than it’s ever been to look for that magic. However, it can still be found.”
Ayers and Rose said that residents have spent the time during the pandemic making up for the lack of outside visitors by strengthening ties within the facility. Rose pointed to an example of some of the healthier and more lucid residents visiting patients in Memory Care — reserved for residents with dementia or other types of dementia — when volunteers could not.
Village residents who received the vaccine reported no pain from the shot and praised the organization and professionalism of the CVS employees and contractors who administered it.
“How many shots have we had?” 94-year-old Pat Howard said, when asked if she had any trepidation about receiving the vaccine. “I didn’t feel a thing.”
“I’m very happy to get it,” Village resident Gilbert Ruthrauff said. “I hope enough people get it that we’ll be able to get a handle on this thing and kill it. It’s hurting too many people. Too many people are losing their lives and it’s a bad thing.”
Vaccinations at assisted living facilities are a big step forward, but the vaccinations of the general population are still seeing delays mostly due to lack of supply. Spectrum Healthcare, which began opening vaccinations for all individuals 65 and older, continues to pause signups for new appointments, waiting on the state to provide more doses.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 case spread in the Verde Valley has dropped sharply in the past two weeks, with just 160 new cases in the week from Friday, Jan. 29, through Friday, Feb. 5, a sharp drop from the 348 cases in the week from Friday, Jan. 15 through Friday, Jan. 22, and an even sharper drop from the beginning of January, when nearly 600 cases were recorded per week. Public health leaders frankly said that they did not know what had caused the sharp decline and had no compelling theories for the change, highlighting that the county is still far away from reaching herd immunity even as vaccinations spread.
Even as cases drop and vaccinations increase — as of Friday morning, there were 28,036 total vaccinations in Yavapai County, nearly doubling the 16,787 total coronavirus cases that the county has recorded since the beginning of the pandemic — health leaders continue to stress that the danger remains real, especially with the potential of new highly-contagious strains of the virus that have been identified in the U.S. coming to the area. Deaths, which occur on a several-week delay from initial diagnoses due to the slow progress of the virus’ symptoms, continue. Nine individuals in the Verde Valley died of COVID-19 in the week from Friday, Jan. 29, through Friday, Feb. 5, making it the 4th deadliest week in the area since the beginning of the pandemic, even as the spread has declined.
“It’s a sigh of relief in one sense, but it’s a lot of deaths being recorded,” Yavapai County Community Health Services Public Information Officer Terri Farneti said. “We can’t stop being vigilant on the mitigation measures. Even with the vaccine we’re not bulletproof.”
