Efforts to Vaccinate N.H.’s Long-Term Care Community Haven’t Been Easy, For Facilities or Families

This time last month, Karen Collman was feeling cautiously optimistic. She knew that the first COVID-19 vaccines were coming to New Hampshire and, like many, saw the moment as a turning point — a sign that help was coming soon, at least to those most at risk.

“Everything seemed on track,” she recalled thinking at the time.

Karen has spent the better part of her life as the chief caretaker for her sister, Erica Cunningham, who lives at Lafayette Center, a nursing home in Franconia. Erica has schizophrenia, and she’s spent most of her life in institutional care.

“It’s been a very long road,” said Jamie Cunningham, Karen and Erica’s brother. “Try and imagine being stuck in a room since the beginning of this pandemic, not being able to get outside of a room. And for someone who knows confinement, to have that even more intense, she has done incredibly well.”

The pandemic has, understandably, upended the siblings’ ability to connect with each other. Still, they’ve tried their best to make sure their sister knows they’re there for her.

“The last Zoom call we had with her last Saturday, we were saying how strong and courageous she was,” Jamie said. “And she responded that, ‘I wish other people could see my strength.’”

Through the spring, summer and fall, as other nursing homes across the state struggled against COVID-19, Lafayette Center somehow managed to evade an outbreak. But Karen and Jamie were acutely aware that could change at any time. That’s why they were so relieved at the news that vaccines were on their way.

Read the rest of the story at NHPR’s website.