TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida officials report residents in all 4,400 long-term care facilities have been offered the opportunity to get the coronavirus vaccine.
“We are obviously trying to protect people’s lives, but not just that. We are also trying to make sure their life is still worth living,” DeSantis said.
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DeSantis spoke at a news conference in Tallahassee on Tuesday.
“I think we need to give them protection to return to normal,” DeSantis.
The governor did not elaborate on what “normal” would look like.
Mary Shannon Daniel, a Jacksonville wife, whose story went viral after getting a job at her husband’s facility to see him said it provides some hope for those loved ones still in long-term care facilities, many socially distanced or separated from families.
“It’s just a little bit of hope of that ‘oh my gosh,’ it’s just amazing,” Daniel said with tears in her eyes.
Daniel has become a spokesperson of sorts for families all across Central Florida who pushed for visitation in long-term care facilities.
She served on Florida’s “Reopening Long-Term Care Facilities” task force back in September.
The task force led the governor to sign an executive order to allow for compassionate caregivers to visit their loved ones.
Now, she’s pushing for even more flexibility with loved ones in nursing homes, hoping to take them out of the facility for a drive, shopping and even share a smile and a kiss.
“It’s time. It’s time. He hasn’t seen me smile in almost a year and I want to smile at him,” Daniel said.
Her husband is scheduled to receive his second dose of the vaccine on Feb. 12 and she is scheduled to get hers on Feb. 3. Once all long-term care facilities get their second doses, she hopes to return back to normal.
“I think it’s time that they get back to their normal lives because they are protected by this vaccine. Let them get back to live whatever life they have left,” Daniel added.
It will be up to the governor to amend or sign a new executive order to give clear enforceable direction to long-term care facilities.
“We need clear direction. We need it to come from them, so it’s very clear, very direct what is their next step so that can be an order down the road,” she added.
At the Spring Hills assisted living facility in Lake Mary, executive director Amanda Nykamp said until they get any new guidance from the governor, state or agency for Health Care Administration, they will be operating under the current executive order.
However, this does not mean they aren’t planning for a phased reopening once more vaccines are administered.
“We are hopeful that within the next 30 days we will start to see some changes,” Nykamp said. “We will be opening up in different phases, phases 1 through 3. So it’s not quite a big grand opening. We can introduce residents back into communal dining, communal engagement activities and following that will be resident and family visitations.”
News 6 also heard back from the spokesperson of Rosecastle Management, who supports a network of assisted living and memory care communities in Florida including Golden Pond assisted living facility in Winter Garden on how they plan to move forward now that first doses have been administered there.
“Our communities are both delighted and relieved to have received our first dose of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine and are looking forward to receiving our second doses later this month. As you may be aware, one dose of the vaccine provides up to 50% efficacy in fighting against Covid-19. After the second dose is administered, efficacy rates surge to 95%. While we are eager to return to normal visitation policies and opening our communities back up, our duty is to keep our residents and our staff safe. In our continued efforts to protect the vulnerable population we serve and the amazing teams who care for them, we will not be implementing any changes in our visitation policy until we receive guidance from the state health departments. At the moment, the Governor’s executive order (#20-011) issued in October still stands, and we will abide by this until further notice. Make no mistake, there will be large celebrations at assisted living communities across Florida when it is deemed safe to return to normal activities without fear of infection from the virulent Covid-19 virus, but until then, we will maintain vigilance with the health and wellbeing of our residents taking top priority.