Long-term care facilities in Rockland are gearing up to receive coronavirus vaccines by the end of December.

The CDC recommended that nursing homes and health care workers should be some of the first to get vaccines.

"We're hopeful that with the vaccine and if everything goes well, the residents can be out and about and a little more less restrictive here,” says Tappan Zee Manor director Kim Furphy.

Facilities like Tappan Zee Manor tell News 12 they’re just waiting for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to get authorized for emergency use.

Resident Barbara Dorman says she spends most of her time isolated to avoid getting sick. Now that there’s an expected vaccine, she’s come to a final decision. 

“I really didn't know what to do, but I have made a decision," says Dorman. "I'm going to take it…I hope that it'll help everybody that needs it."

The Nyack-based facility will have residents or family members opt-in with a waiver. It will then work with pharmacies and physicians to obtain doses and administer them.

Other facilities with similar agendas include Centers Health Care and Northern Group. Director of corporate communications Jeff Jacomowitz feels a sense of relief about the vaccine announcement, saying in part, “Talk about the light at the end of the tunnel--maybe we're coming to it really quickly now, which is really nice."