INDIANAPOLIS — Under Phase 1 of Indiana's Vaccine Distribution Plan, residents of long-term care facilities will start getting vaccinated next week.
This is giving families hope they will soon be able to spend time, in-person, with their loved ones.
"You have this figure of stability in your family and then to have them pulled away, especially since she's 100, to feel like you're missing out on the end of their life , that's truly very hard," Stephany Jenkins, whose grandmother is in a long-term care facility, said.
Jenkins and the rest of her family have not seen their memaw, Roberta Nelson, for ten months. Since they haven't been able to visit in so long, Jenkins feels like her grandma is declining.
"She has lost some of her memory and struggled I believe with the isolation of the pandemic being away from family," Jenkins said.
Despite the circumstances, they were determined to make sure Nelson had a great 100th birthday. WRTV was there earlier in December when family marked the special occasion with what has become very common during this pandemic: windows visits.
At the time, not only was Nelson celebrating her birthday, but she was also dealing with COVID-19. It's something that has been ongoing for most of this month.
"Last week, she had one negative test and now she has tested positive again," Jenkins said.
Knowing Nelson may be vaccinated soon is much-welcomed news to Jenkins and her family.
"They said it looked like it may be the first of January when it could be possible. They're working with the pharmacy to see when they can get vaccinated," Jenkins said. "I think we all hold on to the hope that we will be able to see her again. I'm hoping to get the vaccine soon and maybe we can all put this behind us."
