'Jubilant': Hard-Hit Harlem Nursing Home Gets Coronavirus Vaccine

HARLEM, NY — When 66-year-old Samuel Gelzer was wheeled up to a nurse to receive his coronavirus vaccine Friday morning, it signaled the beginning of the end of a painful year at Harlem Nursing and Rehabilitation.

The mood was joyous inside the 200-bed facility on West 138th Street, where 42 residents and 45 employees were slated to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. There was also relief at the knowledge that some protection was finally coming for the nursing home's residents — 33 of whom are believed to have died from the virus, according to state data.

"I’m happy to be getting this done," said Gelzer, just before he became the first resident to get the shot. A few seconds later, he glanced around the room, perplexed.

"I got it? Is it over?" he asked. When he learned it was, Gelzer joined the small crowd of staff, residents and pharmacists in celebrating.

"I feel great," he said. "I feel jubilant."

The first staffer to get vaccinated was Thara Cesar, the facility's administrator, who said staff had worked to educate residents for weeks about the benefits of the vaccine leading up to the rollout.

"This was a page-turner for us," she said. "They want to move forward."

The atmosphere Friday felt a long way from the pandemic's devastating peak last spring, when the New York Daily News published photos of residents' bodies being wheeled out of the nursing home.

"It was inevitable that it was going to make its way in," said Matthew Fenley, chief development officer for the Allure Group, which owns Harlem Nursing and Rehabilitation.

In the ensuing months, pandemic-induced isolation has been hard on the residents, Cesar said, but staff tried to make life better through FaceTime meetings with family members and drop-offs of goodie bags.

After Gelzer, the next to get the shot was resident Jean Pope, who is "almost 100," and said she did not hesitate to sign up when it became available.

"The sooner to get it done, the better," Pope said.

Friday's vaccines were administered by pharmacists from CVS, through a partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overseen by the state Department of Health. Also in attendance was Keith L. T. Wright, the longtime State Assemblymember from Harlem and current leader of the New York County Democrats.

The residents will get their second dose of the vaccine in early February.