After Multiple Requests EP Senior Living Community Finally Gets Vaccinated

A group of local senior citizens in a living community are finally getting vaccinated after initially being turned down multiple times.

Senior citizens at Solstice Senior Living At Rio Norte here in El Paso were delighted after hearing the news that they would be receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.  

It’s no secret that health officials have been struggling to distribute the vaccine consistently. Currently, El Pasoans who fall into one of the vaccination groups 1A & 1B, and most recently, educators and childcare staff qualify to receive the vaccine.  

However, for one group of El Paso senior citizens at the Solstice Senior Living At Rio Norte in far East El Paso, it’s been an ordeal.

According to Omar Gardea, the living center's sales and marketing director, the senior-living community got turned down multiple times because it technically is not a healthcare assisted living center.

Gardea said that it takes the health of its 80+ tenants very seriously, and it was nearly impossible to take each senior out, some of who are bed-bound, to get the vaccine.

However, after persistently pushing to get clearance, super seniors at the living center have finally been vaccinated for the first dose of the vaccine, thanks to El Paso Firefighters and the City of El Paso. 

Local hospitals such as University Medical Center and the Hospitals of Providence have been working on getting El Paso’s most vulnerable adults 75 years, and older pre-registered for the vaccine. 

With more vaccines on the way, we hope that more senior citizens can get vaccinated in the next few weeks without further delays.

And once again, thank you to the local healthcare workers and first responders for stepping up and helping to make this happen.