Federal officials say that all nursing home residents should be vaccinated by Christmas as the vaccine begins to head to distribution centers.

Dolores Zanchelli, who has a parent in a nursing home, says with the upcoming Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine she hopes to be able to see her mother soon.

She says she hasn't seen her 76-year-old mother, Gina, in-person since March because of safety restrictions.

Officials say the vaccine could be administered at New York nursing homes starting Dec. 21.

Oded Dashiff is an administrator with the Excelsior Care Group, which is a group of 11 nursing homes in the metro area including Nassau Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Hempstead.

He says the system will be working to administer the vaccine to their residents and staff as soon as possible.

Nursing home administrators tell News 12 the vaccine is safe to get and they'll be spending the next few days educating their residents about it.

Zanchelli says she's concerned about how seniors with health issues react to the vaccine and that it's important that nursing home staff get it.