Philly resident, 108, gets her COVID-19 vaccine

Editor’s note: An earlier version of the story incorrectly described Ruth Hopson as Philadelphia’s oldest resident; a 109-year-old woman recently moved to the city from Montgomery County.

Ruth Hopson didn’t flinch as a medical assistant carefully injected her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.

“I’m very happy — I’m going to do the Charleston,” she quipped.

The room’s occupants burst into laughter. But she knew what she was talking about. Hopson learned the Charleston when it was a newfangled dance craze.

Now 108, she was just 6 when influenza swept through the city, killing even more than COVID-19 has. Today, she is one of Philadelphia’s oldest residents, and the effort it took to get her vaccinated at home hints at how challenging a time this is for homebound seniors.

Hopson was too young to form lasting memories about that World War I-era pandemic. But her family cherishes her stories of what she does remember growing up in 1920s Philadelphia, of the house on Quince Street where she lived with her parents and great-uncle, a Civil War veteran blinded in combat who called Hopson “Little Toad.”

“She’s been through two pandemics, two World Wars, and the Great Depression,” said her daughter Merle Hopson, 77.

When lockdowns began last March, Merle and her sister, Carla Hopson-Tyson, both retired teachers who are now their mother’s full-time caregivers, tried to explain to her why their world had grown even smaller.

“She loves family gatherings, she loves parties. She’s been deprived of all her family and friends,” Merle said. “We’ve been pretty isolated.” It was hard sometimes for Ruth to understand that another pandemic had come to Philadelphia, and the sisters reminded her why people had begun to wear masks and stay apart from one another.

And as the COVID-19 vaccine was rolled out earlier this year, Merle and her sister jumped at the chance to get their mother vaccinated. But with Ruth unable to leave the house, they didn’t know where to turn.

“The average person is having difficulties [finding a vaccine appointment],” Merle Hopson said. “A person with special needs runs into roadblocks. We’re not able to get out to go to clinics and vaccines — we don’t take my mother out because of her age.”

CVS had appointments that were booked in seconds. The Hopsons’ church was hosting a vaccine clinic, but only for people who could go there. Two weeks ago, when state Rep. Amen Brown — who lives in the Hopsons’ apartment building in the Wynnefield neighborhood of West Philadelphia — stopped by to check on them, Merle asked if he could help.

Brown had organized community COVID-19 testing clinics with Oak Street Health, a local primary care group that runs 10 clinics in the city, primarily geared toward patients on Medicare. He asked if there was any way Ruth Hopson could get her vaccine at home.

On Friday, a handful of nurses and medical assistants arrived at the Hopsons’ apartment building with three doses of the Pfizer vaccine for Hopson and her daughters. Eugene Godonou, Oak Street’s practice manager, said the group is vaccinating about 200 people a day across its clinics, and has delivered a few doses to homebound seniors.

Brown said he hopes home vaccinations will increase as the city gets more vaccines. “I don’t think we should be saying it’s this hard,” he said. “[Oak Street] was able to come out here. I believe a lot more can be done. There’s hundreds of people looking for good-paying jobs.”

City officials say they have been planning with the Philadelphia Fire Department to send paramedics and EMTs to vaccinate homebound Philadelphians. Another network of city clinics, the Family Practice and Counseling Network, has been vaccinating some clients in their homes. Owners’ associations at several majority-senior apartment buildings have also contracted with pharmacies to go door-to-door to vaccinate residents in recent weeks.

Merle Hopson said she believed the family would still be searching for a vaccine for her mother had Brown not intervened. “I’m just so happy, really thrilled it turned out the way it did,” she said. “We had a lot of anxiety trying to find a solution to getting the vaccine.”

Learning they were about to be vaccinated was like a weight lifting. “We’ve been telling her every day, ‘You’re going to get vaccinated!’ ” Merle said.

“Amen,” Ruth sighed.

“Are you talking about me?” Brown said, laughing.

Joanah Fertile, the medical assistant who gave Hopson her shot, said it was “a pleasure” to give the centenarian her dose. “I’m from Florida, and I already called my family to tell them this is the most exciting day since I’ve been here in Philly,” she said.

As for their plans post-vaccine, Merle said the extended Hopson family was looking forward to reuniting with Ruth. “She’s such a joy to be around. It’s an honor to take care of her — she’s the family treasure,” she said. “She’s always vigorous, always fun, and can come up with a zinger when you least expect it.”

And Ruth, when asked how she wanted to celebrate her first dose, lived up to her reputation: She said she planned to open a bottle of Scotch.