HOWARD COUNTY — Some seniors who are unable to leave their homes say they are having a hard time getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Charles Ormsby is 101 years old. He is a World War II veteran, and his family reached out to WRTV for help, saying they are still waiting on his second dose of the vaccine.
“I want him to get that second shot, but it is impossible," his daughter, Jennifer Ormsby, said. "It is impossible to try to get. I’ve been trying for the last five weeks to get a second shot."
She said he got his first shot back in January at the Veterans Affairs Clinic in Marion, but they had to cancel his second shot appointment several weeks later due to unrelated health issues.
“He came down with aspiration pneumonia, which is a separate issue, and he was in the hospital really sick,” Jennifer said.
Her father is now back home and doing much better, but he’s unable to leave at this point.
“Now due to the pneumonia he's homebound because he's been in bed since January 29th and we need to build up his strength and that takes in-home physical therapy, but I don't wanna bring people in until he has a second shot,” Jennifer said.
She said signing him up for an in-home shot has been tough.
“We just had the rug pulled out from under us," Jennifer said. "We tried going through the state homebound program which didn't have much substance to it, it was more of just generating a list and maybe they will get you a shot. That's not good enough, he needs to have that shot now."
WRTV spoke with the Area Five Agency on Aging which serves Howard County. Leaders there told me they work to gather a list of eilgible seniors unable to leave their homes and then provide that to the state for the program. Ormsby is on that list, but it is unclear when he will get his shot.
“I just want to get the shot in his arm, that's all I want," Jennifer said. "I want to get the shot in his arm and get the things he deserves as a veteran that he was promised as a veteran fighting for our country."
The Indiana State Department of Health told WRTV other state agencies like FSSA and the Department of Homeland Security have established programs to bring shots to Hoosiers at home. They said more than 3,400 Hoosiers from across the state have registered for the program, but they did not answer questions regarding a timeline of when families can expect to learn more.
For more information on scheduling a shot for someone who can not leave their home, contact your local area office on aging. You can find a full list by clicking here.
