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ALSO COVERING AUBURNDALE, COLLEGE POINT, DOUGLASTON, GLEN OAKS, FLORAL PARK
• LITTLE NECK LEDGER
• WHITESTONE TIMES
Jan. 15-Jan. 21, 2021
Queens ‘Polio Pioneer’ among fi rst to receive
COVID-19 vaccine at Whitestone nursing home
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Irene Mentel, a 73-year-old
resident at The Grand Rehabilitation
and Nursing at Queens
in Whitestone who was among
the first to be vaccinated for
polio in 1954, is now among
the first to receive a COVID-19
vaccine.
Mentel received the Pfizer-
BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday,
Jan. 6, when the nursing
home, located at 157-15 19th
Ave., received its first shipment.
Second doses are expected
to be delivered in 21 days.
At the age of 6, Mentel was
one of three students in her
class to receive the polio vaccine,
as it was still controversial.
Now, Mentel is proud to
be receiving the COVID-19
vaccine and hopes to be an
inspiration to other nursing
home residents who may be
nervous.
“We took a series of three
shots and I received a certificate
that called me a pioneer,”
Mentel said in a video. “Just
as we wiped out polio, I hope
we wipe out COVID-19.”
Mentel was born in Queens,
but was living in Providence,
Rhode Island, when she received
the polio vaccine. She
was deemed a “Polio Pioneer”
from the National Foundation
for Infantile Paralysis (now
known as March of Dimes).
Mentel says she has hope
for a better future and can’t
wait to hug her daughter, Sue,
once again. When asked to
write down who she got vaccinated
for, she immediately
jotted down her grandson’s
name: Mathew. Both Sue and
Mathew live in Forest Hills.
During a video call, Sue
was excited to hear that her
mother received the vaccine.
“I’m so happy! That is the
Irene Mentel, 73, receives the COVID-19 vaccine at the The Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Queens in Whitestone.
absolute best news I’ve heard
in many, many months,” Sue
said. “Thank you to everybody
at The Grand. I am so excited.
I’m hoping all of the staff gets
vaccinated, and I hope everyone
gets a moment to feel a
little empowered.”
Shelley Serber, creative
director at The Grand Healthcare
System, said Jan. 6 was
an “absolutely monumental
day” at the nursing home.
“It’s been a long few
months for us and to receive
the vaccine and to see joy in
staff members and residents’
faces, it was incredible,” Serber
said. “There wasn’t a dry
eye in the room, and it’s a day
I will never forget.”
In December, residents
and staff members at nursing
homes across New York state
began receiving the COVID-19
vaccine during the first phase
of the vaccination process.
According to Gov. Andrew
Courtesy of The Grand Healthcare System
Cuomo, 611 facilities in New
York have enrolled in the federal
government’s Nursing
Home Vaccination Program,
in which staff and residents
receive vaccinations through
a partnership with pharmacies
like CVS and Walgreens.
According to the latest
data, 288 facilities (or 47 percent)
have completed the first
dose for residents. Through
state facilitation, 234 more
facilities will administer the
first dose during the week of
Jan. 4.
This will ensure that 85 percent
of facilities have administered
the first dose to residents
by week’s end, with the remaining
15 percent to be completed
over the next two weeks.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718) 260–
4526.
Vol. 87 No. 3 24 total pages
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