‘Totally grateful.’ Hundreds of Manatee seniors get COVID vaccines thanks to this group
There were plenty of smiles behind the face masks on Saturday morning as more than 300 seniors began to show up for scheduled COVID-19 vaccination appointments at the 13th Avenue Dream Center in Bradenton.
MCR Health is among the health organizations designated by the state to receive and administer the vaccinations, but has not received their promised allocation of the vaccines.
Partnering with the Department of Health in Manatee County, MCR Health was at least able to roll out its program designed to help under-served communities and delivered 192 vaccinations on Friday in Rubonia and another 320 at the 13th Avenue Dream Center on Saturday.
Among those receiving the first of two vaccines was Nancy Smith, who has spent the almost yearlong pandemic trying to stay safe from the virus.
“I’ve just been staying at home and wearing a mask,” Smith said. “Those things have been very important right now, but I have been missing my family.”
After receiving her vaccine, Smith took a seat at the far side of the Dream Center’s gymnasium to be monitored for 15 minutes for any potential side effects.
“I feel fine,” she said. “This was well organized and it didn’t hurt at all.”
Derrick Randall, CEO of the Dream Center said MCR Health has always been a good partner to the lower economic communities, but Saturday was an extra special day.
“We’re just totally grateful for the MCR Health assistance in coming out and providing vaccinations in our community,” Randall said. “MCR Health has been a great partner for us in many ways in our community in giving resources, but today is really great because you’re getting services that you need in this community that is under served and having the opportunity to get the vaccinations that we need.”
For Martha Nash, Saturday’s vaccination was a relief to her personally. She sees this as a sign that things will get better soon.
“The biggest thing I’ve missed is not being able to be together with everyone at church,” Nash said. “I’m retired, so I’m use to being at home alone, but I’m just glad to have gotten the vaccination and hopefully people will do what they are supposed to do so we can get back to normal.”
Normal isn’t around the corner, but it is one step closer with each successful series of vaccinations. The biggest obstacle is that demand continues to outpace supply.
“The process of getting vaccines from the state has been a challenge as we have not received our allocation,” said Patrick Carnegie, CEO and president of MCR Health. “However, we have a great partnership with our local DOH who has made these vaccines available for this to roll out our program.”
MCR Health is a not-for-profit healthcare provider with a focus on the under-served and uninsured. The organization provides a wide variety of healthcare services.
“Access is one of the most important elements in providing quality preventative and primary care to some of our most vulnerable populations in our community and statistically the minority community has been hit the hardest with COVID-19,” Carnegie said. “We are a trusted name and so are the community centers so our goal was to partner with the community centers in order to provide access to our minority community and we will continue do to more.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 1:01 PM.