CLEVELAND — “I feel great. No issues. No concerns," said Emily Mahnen, the Director of Nursing at Pleasantview Care Center in Parma.

What You Need To Know

  • In a historic effort Friday, Walgreens, CVS, PharmScript and Absolute Pharmacy administered doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at 10 Ohio nursing homes

  • Gov. Mike DeWine says he expects it will take about four weeks for every nursing home in the state to have access to the first doses of the vaccine

Mahen was the first at the facility to be vaccinated. Gov. Mike DeWine was there to see it for himself.

“You want to show them that it’s something you’re willing to do because you think it’s going to benefit them, and I want to protect my staff as much as possible,” she said.

Dr. Thomas Mandat took his first dose Friday. He says there’s nothing to it.

“It feels good. It’s a confidence builder. I think when you’re dealing with patients all day long, it’s really nice to know that you’ve got a safety net. You know, especially since I deal with a lot of COVID patients. So, I think it’s good for the public. You know, we can kind of get back into some normalcy,” said Mandat.



PharmScript, a long-term care pharmacy, says around 250 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine were administered to patients and staff at Pleasantview Care Center on day one of the rollout.

In a historic effort Friday, Walgreens, CVS, PharmScript and Absolute Pharmacy administered doses at ten Ohio facilities.

Gov. Mike DeWine says he expects it will take about four weeks for every nursing home in the state to have access to the first doses of the vaccine.

The Pfizer vaccine requires a second dose roughly three weeks after the first.

"I checked with my team a few minutes ago, and it looks likes what is on the board for us, and what we're looking at, what's supposed to be coming in December, is a little over 500,000 doses. We thought at one time it was 660,000," said DeWine.

In addition to his stop in Parma, the governor made appearances at nursing homes in Columbus and Sandusky to oversee the start of the vaccination process.


It’s been a long, difficult nine months at assisted living facilities.

The older population living in nursing homes are some of the most vulnerable to the virus and arguably the most isolated due to lack of in-person family visits.

Frontline workers say the vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’re hoping,” said Mahen.

“Literally a life saver," said DeWine.

DeWine says the COVID-19 vaccination dashboard will go live online Saturday. The dashboard will track the number of people vaccinated and break down the information into demographic categories.

Also, Governor DeWine says first responders are next in line to be vaccinated. That’s expected to kick off on Dec. 28.