KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — At Autumn Care in Farragut, the doors have stayed closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It keeps the virus, but also family, on the outside.
"I have one great-grandson. The first one, the only one. I'm anxious to hold him," resident Alice Keck said.
She hasn't met her great-grandson, born seven months ago during the pandemic.
For folks like Robert Parrott, the hardest part is the feeling of being trapped inside without chances to leave the facility.
"It’s not like being in prison at all, but I’m unable to do anything outside these walls. I can’t go anywhere. I can’t see anybody else. We have no visitors. We have no family. We have no outsiders of any kind," he said. "For the first time in our lives, we have been constrained from doing what our usual pattern of living is."
It's been a tough 10 months for residents at Autumn Care. Officials said that the COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation are taking their toll.
"It's been really depressing," Vice-President for Operations Carol Huddleston said. "We have seen a decline in the residents because their family is everything to them. And some of them don't understand why they can't see their families and why they can't come in."
But on Friday residents and faculty took the first step toward the old life: workers from Walgreens gave the first vaccination dose to 20 staff and 45 residents, including Robert Parrott.
"I’m not anxious about it. I’m ready to go," the 90-year-old said.
In 30 days, he'll have another vaccine appointment. After that, he hopes for a life returning to normal.
"The doors will open. I think. I hope," he said.