VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — You may have seen it on social media: a group of senior residents smashing a COVID-19 piñata at a gathering with no masks.
That's no mistake. These residents can finally be together without masks, because their entire community on campus has been immunized.
“People were pleased to be outdoors and be together and celebrate a really wonderful accomplishment," said John Wolfe, president of the community's Residence Association.
Wolfe was one of the first people to hit the piñata and have fun with others. It's a milestone he says he is happy to reach with others.
The 79-year-old has lived at Westminster Canterbury for the past five years with his wife, Mary. He says while his son visited once in the past few months, it had to be behind a wall of plexiglass.
“Our son is going to be visiting in a couple of weeks, and its going to be very nice for him to be able to come in and have a nice hug, that’s what's really important," said Wolfe.
Vice President of Residence and Health Operations, Dr. Victoria Crenshaw, said it had been a difficult year trying to navigate the pandemic. Now, with the final resident vaccinated, this senior living community was happy to say it was fully immunized against COVID-19.
“As soon as that first clinic was scheduled, we said, 'We want the whole campus vaccinated and our staff are excited,'" said Crenshaw. "We’re together in all of this and we’ve really grown as a community, together.”
The nearly 650 residents can finally hug loved ones again and be together as a community.
It's something Wolfe said he was looking forward to with his son and grandchildren.
Crenshaw said the community had a pharmacy that would be able to vaccinate any new residents living there in the future.