City of Scottsdale & HonorHealth bring COVID vaccines to Seniors

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — For Karen Wilson, a senior citizen in her 70’s who has lived in Scottsdale for 52 years, the novel coronavirus has been difficult. The senior center where her and her friends would get together to play cards and exercise has been closed since March of last year. She doesn’t go out except to go to church and to get groceries because she knows she’s at high risk.

This has been the reality for senior citizens all across the country. Since the start of the pandemic, many have isolated themselves in order to stay safe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the risk for severe illness and even death from COVID-19 increases with age. The CDC says those in the 75-84 year age group are 55 times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 and 2,800 times more likely to die from it.

Due to the high risk, as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations have become available nationwide, senior citizens have top priority for receiving them. The City of Scottsdale collaborated with their longtime partner HonorHealth to help the city’s most vulnerable receive vaccinations.

“The city, of course, has partnered with HonorHealth on other initiatives that involve community services. They've done many events with our Parks & Recreation departments and, even related to being able to provide vaccinations,” said Greg Bestgen, the Human Services Director for the City of Scottsdale.

HonorHealth and the City of Scottsdale worked together to register 100 eligible seniors, 75+, to go to a drive through vaccination site in North Phoenix. Even so, there were 63 remaining seniors who had difficulty getting to the site or mobility issues that prevented them from going. As a result, HonorHealth helped to establish an on-site location at Granite Reef Senior Center to provide them with vaccinations. On March 3, the seniors received their second dose of the vaccine.

“We had been planning for a couple of months but about three and a half weeks ago we had the first event and the vaccine that they’re using here is Pfizer which requires two shots, so everyone here today is getting their second shot,” said Eugenio Muñoz-Villafañe the City of Scottsdale Human Services Manager.

When registering seniors to get a vaccination at the site there are a number of challenges faced including transportation and technology. The City of Scottsdale is providing transportation via the trolley service and through a partnership with ELAINE medical services to provide seniors with a variety of resources. According to Michelle Pabis, the Vice President of Government and Community Affairs at HonorHealth, many of the seniors faced technological issues when it came to registering for the vaccine.

“I think what we’ve learned is that, whether you’re HonorHealth or any provider of vaccines, it can be difficult to navigate the system. For these seniors, particularly there were technology issues, they didn't have an email address or even a computer and a lot of our scheduling is an online basis and so that’s one issue,” said Pabis. “And then [there’s] the transportation, a lot of these seniors aren’t able to travel long distances or no longer even have a car, so how do we make it more accessible to them in a place where they’re comfortable and can get the services they need,” said Pabis.

The City of Scottsdale also wanted to ensure that they had the correct protocols in place so that the vaccine could be offered to senior citizens in a safe environment. To do so they made sure they were only using staff from the Granite Reef Senior Center rather than employing the use of volunteers.

Pabis of HonorHealth also said they are working hard to make sure that not a single usable dose is wasted. This includes being intentional about the number of people they vaccinate. There are seven doses per vial and, according to Pabis this is how they determined the number they could vaccinate, by working backward. Additionally, the Pfizer vaccination has to be kept at ultra-low temperatures and once it is defrosted and reconstituted, there is a six hour window for use. Pabis said that's why the vaccine is being administered on an appointment-schedule.

“That’s the greatest thing, we never waste a single usable dose,” said Pabis. “It’s just been a really rewarding experience to be able to be a part of this and I worked the event here three weeks ago and these are seniors that really haven’t left their house in over a year and to be able to help bring the vaccine to them and make it a comfortable experience has really been a great reward. And the partnership between the city staff and the HonorHealth staff, again, it just gets better and better as the years go on.”

For elders like Karen Wilson who were having trouble getting vaccinated the outreach to the Granite Reef Senior Center has been a huge relief.

“I did have trouble getting a shot until someone from here called a friend of mine and she had mentioned to me that the senior center called her to get a shot and she didn’t want one so I called and I got her in and me in, and my other friend. That was very handy because we live real close,” said Wilson. “I’m just glad it’s winding down, hopefully, I feel a little more protected now.”