ENTERPRISE — All of the residents and staff of Wallowa County’s five long-term care facilities who wanted them have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

And Winding Waters Clinic played a vital role in getting those doses to the individuals who needed them.

Nic Powers, Winding Waters CEO, said the clinic — due to its position as a federally qualified health center — received 100 doses of the Moderna vaccine in early January and took the lead on vaccinating those who are staying at one of the five long-term care facilities in the county.

“We worked out a plan to vaccinate any and all residents and staff of the long-term care facilities that wanted to get the vaccine,” Powers recently said. “Our staff has been doing that over the last week.”

Powers said as of last week, “all willing residents and staff” from Alpine House, Wallowa Valley Senior Living, Pioneer Guest House, Joseph House and Wallowa River House received the vaccine. Powers added the clinic should be receiving its allotment of second doses in early February to finish the inoculation of those individuals.

Powers said the doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine — which is administered in two doses at least 28 days apart — received by Winding Waters arrived Jan. 6.

The vaccine administration performed by the facility fell “in line with state and federal guidance about vaccinating people and staff in long-term care,” he said.

Long-term care facility residents and staff were part of the Phase 1A vaccine recipients under the Oregon Health Authority’s vaccination rollout.

“The virus can transmit so easily among people in those conditions, and those people (living there) tend to be much more medically fragile,” Powers said.

Though an exact percentage of residents and staff who received the immunization was not available, the vast majority of both opted to receive their first dose.

“I think overall the reception has been very good. We’re not going to have extra,” Powers said.

Mike Farley, a clinical pharmacist for Winding Waters who was part of the vaccinating staff, agreed, saying that “by and large, the majority of people have taken the vaccine.”

“People are excited to have the opportunity to get vaccinated,” Farley said. “The number of people who opted in far outweighed” those who opted out.

Farley said the staff met with individuals who did elect to opt out — or who were uncertain — to make sure they were comfortable with whatever decision they made.

“We have a chance with those who are hesitant to talk it through,” he said.

So far, there have been no adverse reactions to the vaccine among the care facility residents and staff.

“It’s gone well,” Farley said. “We’ve had no incidents of people not tolerating it well. We’ve felt positive about how things have gone.”

The buzz about getting vaccinated was about equal for both staff and residents, too.

“Kind of hard for me to say who is more excited,” Farley said. “The residents are excited because they want to be protected, but the staff are excited to keep it from (their residents).”

Powers added that Winding Waters staff has also been helping in the vaccine administration that Wallowa Memorial Hospital has been performing at Cloverleaf Hall, and will continue to work with the hospital in the vaccine rollout — including what it will consider doing if it receives more than just the second doses allocated for it.

“We’re working out those details,” Powers said. “It’s all really going to depend on how much vaccine is coming into the community, and there is not clarity yet.”

“We are thankful for the help of Winding Waters Clinic in getting vaccines to all of the interested LTCF residents and staff,” said Brooke Pace, WMH communications director. “Their help assisted us in getting out all the available vaccine as quickly as possible, which is of course the goal. The vaccine clinics take a lot of man power, from planning, scheduling, setting up, and breaking down.”

Powers added that the next task in Winding Waters’ vaccination plan is “identifying a list of people who are homebound but not necessarily in a long-term care facility.”