Arbor Terrace Residents, Staff Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

DECATUR, GA — More than 200 senior residents and staff at three Arbor Terrace locations received the first round of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, including about 70 at Arbor Terrace at Decatur.

In a partnership with Walgreens, the assisted living facility provided on-site vaccinations of the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine to eligible residents and staff at Arbor Terrace's Cascade, Crabapple and Decatur locations Jan. 18. The second dose will happen in February, according to Melanie Ramcharran, executive director of Arbor Terrace at Decatur.

The Decatur location expected to vaccinate 65 residents and staff, but ended up vaccinating a few more after they saw coworkers and other residents receiving the vaccine.

"[Our residents and staff were] very excited. A lot of staff and a lot of residents were very happy that we finally got it," Ramcharran said. "There's some staff that were a little hesitant to, but after they saw their coworkers getting it, they felt a lot more comfortable and some actually signed up [on the day] to receive it."

Long-term care facilities and nursing homes across the country have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic over the last year.

Of Arbor Terrace at Decatur's 46 residents, 19 have tested positive for COVID-19 as of 2 p.m. Jan. 15, according to the latest available long-term care facility report from the Georgia Department of Public Health. Six residents have died from the coronavirus, and 11 have recovered. Additionally, 10 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.

Last year, four families filed lawsuits against the parent company that operates the Arbor Terrace at Cascade location for gross negligence that led to five deaths, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. One of the primary issues in the lawsuit was that staff did not use critical Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE.

Ramcharran said the Decatur location's residents and staff are using PPE and will continue to do so.

"The best that we can do is just continuing [using] our face shields and our face masks, and just being protective of everyone and their safety," Ramcharran said.

Arbor Terrace management said they plan to vaccinate people at their other facilities throughout this week.