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The Gift of the New Year and COVID-19 Vaccine

We would like to wish everyone a belated Happy New Year and continue to thank you for putting your trust in Franklin Park® Senior Living Communities. This past year has been a challenging one, to say the least, and we understand it has taken a toll on our residents, families, and employees.

But we are in this together, and 2021 looks a bit more promising as we have started the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccination across our communities.

Franklin Park® is participating in the federal CDC vaccine distribution program for long-term care communities. As a result, the vaccine is paid for by the federal government, while the administration of the vaccine will be paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, or through a governmental fund for those without insurance. The vaccines became available to long-term care facilities in San Antonio in late December 2020.

We are pleased to announce that all our Assisted Living and Memory Care communities have received the first round of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines, and we are now coordinating for the second dose through the federal CDC program and CVS Pharmacy. Almost 100% of Residents and a majority of the employees are participating in the vaccine program. We are also pleased to share that we are working on scheduling our Independent Living residents for their vaccines. In fact, our partner CVS has already provided the first dose to most of the Independent Living residents and employees at our Franklin Park® TPC Community in San Antonio.

While the COVID-19 vaccinations are a wonderful gift to our residents and employees, we are still asking residents, families, and employees to remain diligent and continue to practice safe health protocols. We ask that everyone still wear masks and continue to social distance.

From what medical experts have seen so far from clinical trials, the vaccine does provide a lot of protection. It will also bring peace of mind. The vaccine reduces the chance of getting the virus and getting severely ill from it. But it is not 100% effective, and we know that elderly individuals and those with chronic medical conditions have an elevated risk of severe illness and death, and the vaccine will substantially reduce these outcomes. We thank you for continuing to practice COVID-19 safety protocols in our communities and when out in public to ensure the safety of everyone in our families and the greater San Antonio community.

With the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, we see hope for a brighter year. We understand that the mental health of residents living in long-term facilities was placed in danger by isolation caused by COVID-19 restrictions. We hope all of our residents and their families understand our top priority remains their health and well-being.

Once the majority of residents and Franklin Park® team members are vaccinated, we should see dining venues, activities, and in-person visitations begin to be restored to pre-COVID-19 levels. Restoring the right for family and friends to freely visit their loved ones will have an enormous impact on the happiness and overall health of each resident. And that is something we are all looking forward to.

Cheers and blessings for 2021.