LEWES, Del. - Funeral homes in Sussex County say they are still waiting to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Andrew Parsell, Director and Vice President of Parsell Funeral homes says funeral professionals are referred to as #lastresponders. These individuals are a part of Phase 1A, meaning they are eligible for the vaccine now.
Parsell says it's important they get vaccinated because they are a limited group and have no backups.
"We have tons of exposure to families and taking care of these patients, there's also a risk we can expose other people. We have to go into the nursing homes, the hospitals, and the last thing we want to do is expose other high risk individuals."
Parsell been reaching out to the state since the beginning of December ahead of the vaccine approval.
"They (the state) set up plans with providers that could vaccinate their own staff, so things like hospitals, where they can vaccinate their own people, paramedics, things of that nature. However, they just never planned for the allocation of other Phase 1A providers to be able to get access to these vaccinations, and set up with a provider early on or in advance,” said Parsell.
The Delaware Division of Public Health told WRDE in a statement, “ DPH has been in direct contact with several funeral directors regarding how they can access vaccinations. Much like other health care providers who are unable to administer vaccines, funeral professionals must establish a partnership with a vaccine provider (health care system, medical provider, pharmacy, etc.). Once that partner has been enrolled as a vaccine provider with the Delaware Immunization Program, they can work with DPH to order vaccine for their partner groups.”
Parsell said it's difficult to get access to their providers to set up vaccinations, and to get in touch with state leaders. He said funeral professionals in Maryland and New Jersey have all been vaccinated.
"They left out a lot of people within 1A, and now that we're playing catch up, the state is not putting in the extra time to get this done quickly and efficiently,” said Parsell.
DPH also said, “This specific population has not been overlooked. Rolling out and implementing a statewide vaccine distribution and administration effort for a new vaccine is challenging and has many moving pieces. DPH has been working closely with funeral home directors to determine the best way to provide vaccines for their staff, and have been assisting to coordinate partnerships with enrolled vaccine providers.”
“The funeral directors have notified DPH that they have identified a partner to administer the vaccine, and we have provided information on how their partner can complete the enrollment process. DPH is also working to get a list of licensed funeral directors and funeral homes in order to assist with outreach and logistics for vaccinating this group,” said DPH.
Parsell said he wants to raise awareness, “Start planning today for your vaccinations tomorrow.”
Bob Harrington at Watson Funeral Home in Millsboro told WRDE, he has a lot of disappointed staff, who want to get vaccinated, as they have taken care of 24 COVID deaths so far.
