188 Vaccinated At Woburn's New Horizons Assisted Living Community

Press release from New Horizons at Choate:

WOBURN, MA — New Horizons at Choate senior living community is among the first to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. In total, 188 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered Thursday to residents and staff.

The large-scale vaccination operation was completed in just over five hours by North Woburn’s CVS Pharmacy. One hundred percent of current residents have now received the first round. New Horizons anticipates receiving the second dose of vaccine in approximately four weeks.

“Everyone was so happy to have started the vaccination process today,” said New Horizons executive director Christine Coakley, a lifelong Woburn resident and 26-year New Horizons employee. “After working so hard these past months to keep ourselves and each other well, we’re all finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

According to Coakley, the excitement level among residents, who ranged in age from 75 to 100, was particularly high.

“We could feel the anticipation in the air all week,” said Coakley. “I’ve been hearing for days now, ‘Let’s get this vaccination show on the road.’”

One resident arranged an impromptu vaccination photo shoot for himself, according to Coakley. The resident explained that he wanted a fun way to share the great news with his family.

North Woburn CVS pharmacist Holly Hession led the six-member team that reported to New Horizons for Thursday’s vaccination initiative.

“We’ve had a fantastic experience with CVS,” said Coakley. “As you can imagine, we had a lot of questions about vaccination. Jim Mahoney, CVS’ district leader, was so responsive in the days leading up to the big event, and Holly led a smooth efficient operation that really impressed us all.”

New Horizons has been stringent in its adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols since the pandemic’s onset in 2020. A large testing operation performed last spring by the Massachusetts National Guard returned only one positive result from the residents tested. Since that time, the resident who earlier tested positive has fully recovered and there has been a low incidence of the virus in the community.

This press release was produced by New Horizons at Choate. The views expressed are the author's own.