BATON ROUGE – On Monday, administering the COVID-19 vaccine will begin in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

At Amber Terrace Assisted Living many residents are anxious for the process to begin.

“They keep asking me when are we going to get the vaccine,” said Sharon Dykes the Activities Director. “We have heard that we’re getting them, but I think the nursing homes are first and then we’ll get ours.”

Family members can visit their loved ones at Amber Terrace, but they have to do so behind a clear wall. Dykes says the residents want to get vaccinated so they can be closer to family.

“They’re ready to see their families,” said Dykes. “[The staff] gets to go home, and they don’t.”

Pharmacists at CVS and Walgreens will be administering the vaccines. Dr. Jocelyn Shrum with CVS says a pharmacist and two technicians will be traveling to each facility.

“Depending on how many residents they have for us to vaccinate we’ll be there for four hours or six hours, but that’s basically a one to two ratio on what’s going to the LTC’s,” said Dr. Shrum.

Each resident and staff have to receive two doses of the vaccine, so it will take three to four weeks after the first visit for everyone to be fully vaccinated.