By By Dan Hounsell

Senior living communities, among the hardest hit facilities with the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, have slowly started to recover and reopen as more residents and staff receive vaccinations. But these facilities are not out of the woods yet.

A new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in an Eastern Kentucky nursing home, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents have contracted the variant, Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack said, but only one vaccinated resident has become sick enough to be hospitalized, compared to four unvaccinated residents.

Eighty-five percent of facility residents and 48 percent of staff got a coronavirus vaccine.

An unvaccinated person brought in the variant, Stack said, infecting 41 people — 27 residents and 14 staff. Of those who are infected and fully immunized, 30 percent have been symptomatic. Meanwhile, 83 percent of those who aren’t immunized are showing symptoms, which means the vaccine is largely preventing serious illness even when faced with an unknown variant.

Five residents have been hospitalized, only one of whom is fully inoculated. State officials don’t know which variant it is, but Stack said it’s not one of the common variants that are circulating in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil.