Pfizer Covid vaccine comes to Five Towns Premier Rehabilitation

As the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines are rolled out across the globe, some 200 residents and staff at the Five Towns Premier Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, in Woodmere, received their first dose of the two-dose Pfizer treatment on Monday, the first day the vaccines were made available to the nation’s nursing homes.

The vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech was in its second week of distribution, and after federal regulators approved the Moderna vaccine last week, it began shipping on Sunday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said that health care workers and nursing home residents — about 24 million people nationwide — should be at the front of the line to be vaccinated.

To help ensure that residents’ families were well aware of the vaccinations being given, Premier staff, led by Administrator Joseph Benden, held a virtual family council. “We explained the process and put a copy of the consent form on our website,” Benden said, adding that information on the Pfizer vaccine was also made available to the residents of the 280-bed facility and their families. “They could also call us and ask questions,” he said of residents’ family members.

A team of pharmacists from Walgreens administered the shots on Monday. The second dose, or a first dose for residents or staff that did not receive it, will be given on Jan. 11. The second dose for the second group will be administered on Feb. 1.

The process [of getting the vaccine] was very quick, and we are doing education and encouraging all our residents and staff to get the vaccine,” said Cathy Byrne, a supervisor and gerontologist at Premier.

Woodmere resident Michael Lukin, 73, one of the patients who received the vaccine, contracted Covid-19 last month and was in Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital, in Oceanside, for three and a half weeks. He was bedridden for so long, Lukin said, that his leg muscles atrophied.

Enrolled at Premier for physical and occupational therapy, Lukin said that when he leaned that the facility was getting the vaccine, he was ready. “I’m the type with all the vaccines, I’m there,” said the still-working Apple Bank vice president. “I’d rather not take any chances. If the medical authorities say the efficacy is good enough, safe enough, I’d rather not suffer any consequences. I’d rather be protected.”

Premier had an early Covid case, but since April had not had any more, Benden said. “We have been Covid-free and are doing weekly staff testing,” he said. “We test 415 staff a week, and there’s a good a chance there could be a false positive or a true positive.”

The facility offers occupational, physical, respiratory and speech therapy, and features amenities such as oversized private and semi-private rooms, private wardrobe space and flat-screen televisions. There are complimentary bedside phones, TV service and Wi-Fi.

“It’s a great accomplishment, and I’m happy to get the vaccine on the first day it was available,” Benden said. “If it’s used to save lives, then I’m happy.”

“I have not started clucking,” Lukin joked a few hours after he received his first dose in his left arm, referring to possible side effects. “So far, so good. Thank God I’m in a good place, getting excellent care.”

Have an opinion on the Covid vaccines? Send a letter to jbessen@liherald.com.