Seniors receiving their second doses at Ellenton mobile home park’s COVID vaccine event
Senior residents were happy on Tuesday as they got their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Colony Cove mobile home community, looking forward to returning to some of the activities they enjoyed before the coronavirus pandemic. But for Peg Huse, being fully inoculated meant she will soon be able to visit her family and say goodbye to her brother.
Huse, 70, intends to stay put at her home in the The Gardens mobile home park in Parrish for a couple weeks, before she travels to Plattsburg, N.Y.
“I lost a brother in January. He died from cancer. I haven’t been able to see him for two years,” Huse said.
Huse is looking forward to seeing her only remaining sibling, her sister, and holding a memorial service for her brother.
About 3,500 seniors received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine three weeks ago at a vaccination event hosted by the state at Colony Cove. The initial event was open to any Florida resident who is 65 years or older.
On Tuesday, a second three-day event run by the the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Health got underway so those same seniors could get their second dose.
Peter Long, 69, sat patiently and smiled as he waited with his wife, Helen, in a chair more than six feet away for their turn.
“I was very happy that they scheduled it and it was very well organized. People were very organized,” Long said.
The couple live in Colony Cove during the winter months, soaking up the warmth and escaping the cold at their other home in Cape Cod, Mass.
Long said he still has reservation about resuming some activities.
“I’m concerned that people should still be wearing masks,” Long said. “I’m not going to a restaurant where people are going to be packing in like sardines.”
Reflecting on his own life, he considers the Vietnam War the biggest crisis of his lifetime, he explained. But but for younger people now, he thinks they will look back at this pandemic and the years 2020 and 2021 as the biggest crisis of their lifetimes.
Across the state, there have been 5,057,939 people who have received at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Florida Department of Health’s daily vaccine reports. In Manatee County, there have been 106,452 people who have received at least a first dose.
Bev Messner was feeling good as she sat for her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
“I didn’t even feel that go in, awesome,” she rejoiced as the shot went into her arm.
After a year of being cautious, she was happy for the event and to be fully vaccinated.
“I think it went extremely well because I waited for a long time for one of the calls from the county and didn’t get it,” Messner said.
Also a seasonal resident, she and her husband, Bob, split their time between Colony Cove and Ohio.
The 75-year-old said she was looking forward to golfing, playing cards, being with people and going out to eat.
“All the things we used to do,” she said. “We have done some, but very carefully.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 4:07 PM.
