Washington nursing home that saw first U.S. COVID outbreak begins vaccinating residents

Residents and staff members at Life Care Center of Kirkland, the epicenter of the first COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, began receiving their vaccines Monday.

CVS, which began administering the Pfizer vaccine last week, arrived Monday morning, according to My Northwest. The vaccine is not required for residents, but staff are “encouraging” all to get their shot.

It’s unclear how many doses are being administered.

“This is a great way to end the year,” Kirkland Life Care Center Executive Director Ellie Schutt said in a statement. “I think everyone in the skilled nursing industry is thankful that a vaccine is available and being administered, but it means a little more to see vaccinations happening at Kirkland.”

The first confirmed coronavirus case at Kirkland was discovered on Feb. 28. By March 18, a week after the NBA season was suspended, 167 cases were tied to the center: 101 residents, 50 health care personnel and 16 visitors, according to an epidemiological study by the New England Journal of Medicine.

At least 46 COVID-19 deaths have been tied to Kirkland.

In April, the daughter of a patient who died a month earlier sued the center for wrongful death, accusing staff of “failing to disclose material facts” to relatives and residents at the home and tricking her mother into staying “in an environment, and under the care of individuals and entities, dangerous to her health and safety.”

The Life Care Center was fined more than $600,000 for a “slew of deficiencies” and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concluded that the healthcare facility provided “inadequate” care to its residents.

___

(c)2020 New York Daily News

Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.