Vaccinated seniors literally ‘Beat’ COVID with a celebratory piñata

Saying it’s been a tough year for seniors just might be the understatement of the coronavirus pandemic. Nursing homes and senior living centers were among the first and most frequent places to see COVID-19 outbreaks, and the virus is particularly deadly for older adults — which is why this population was the first to get access to vaccines once they became available.

About half of America’s 65-and-older crowd is now fully vaccinated, and 70% have gotten at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. At a senior living community in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where WUSA9 reported that 99% of the residents are now vaccinated, the staff came up with a great way for them to celebrate beating COVID: by grabbing a stick and literally beating a piñata shaped like the coronavirus until it burst open.

Westbury-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay shared a video of residents giving the coronavirus a proper beating with WUSA9, which you can see below. The seniors don their masks over their eyes rather than their mouths and noses and start taking a crack at the piñata. After they bust it open, they share the candy, hand sanitizer and adult beverages the staff had tucked inside.

No doubt, the virus had it coming.

“Shot #2 is in the books,” reads a Feb. 6 Facebook post by the senior living community, alongside photos of residents getting their second jab. “We are grateful that 100% of our Independent Living residents chose to be vaccinated!”

Congrats to all of them!

Vaccinated seniors around the country are feeling a similar exuberance. They’re hugging grandchildren they’ve only seen through window screens or glass for a year, or getting together with vaccinated friends (the CDC says fully vaccinated folks can get together unmasked, just like we used to do pre-pandemic).

The healthcare workers giving COVID vaccines are feeling the joy from people as they get vaccinated, too.

“You can see their smiles through their masks,” Corie Robinson, a nurse in Washington, D.C., told the Washington Post of her patients as she gives them the shot.