Nearly half of the staff at Erie County s skilled-nursing centers has been vaccinated against COVID-19, but the percentage varies significantly among the 18 facilities.
Only 21% of the staff at Corry Manor had been vaccinated as of April 1, compared to 70% of the staff at Saint Mary s at Asbury Ridge, according to the results of a survey published by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Getting our staff vaccinated is extremely important because we are dealing with a very vulnerable population, said Allen Bonace, CEO of Saint Mary s Home of Erie, which oversees both Saint Mary s at Asbury Ridge and Saint Mary s East. They have comorbidities and can catch a disease much quicker than you or I would.
Between October and mid-November I worked more overtime hours covering the presidential election than I can ever recall working in a similar span in my 15-year career as a newspaper reporter.
So, as one might imagine, I was eagerly awaiting more like desperate for a two-week vacation planned for Thanksgiving week as mail-in and absentee ballots were still being tallied by the Erie County Board of Elections.
But two days after Thanksgiving, it hit. First it was the chills, then a 101-degree fever and a complete loss of taste and smell. My energy was sapped. I panted like a dog any time I needed to do anything physical. Worst of all, my wife and two of our three daughters tested positive for COVID-19, too. Only our 10-year-old Sophia was asymptomatic.
Janae Andrews didn t know when she might get the COVID-19 vaccine, since she is a healthy 30-year-old woman.
Andrews, who recovered from COVID-19 about a month ago, received her first dose Friday morning during an expanded community vaccination clinic at the LECOM Center for Health and Aging, 3910 Schaper Ave.
It is believed to be Erie County s first clinic that was open to anyone in Phase 1A of the state s COVID-19 vaccination plan. I am so excited, because my grandma is 70, said Andrews, who qualified in Phase 1A because the Beaver County woman works at the Erie-based Pitts Funeral Home. We live together and she s my best friend.