COVID-19 vaccinations

In April, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the ‘HHS Bridge Access Program For COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments Program’ to maintain broad access to COVID-19 vaccines for millions of uninsured Americans. This program, Administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has created a unique public-private partnership to help maintain uninsured individuals’ access to COVID-19 care at their local pharmacies, through existing public health infrastructure, and at their local health centers. This week, the program officially launches, providing continued free coverage for the estimated 25-30 million adults who would have otherwise lost access to affordable COVID-19 vaccines...

This new KFF brief finds that only 45% of all nursing facility residents and 22% of staff are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. That is a sharp drop from the 87 percent of nursing facility residents and staff who completed their primary vaccination series. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently defines having up to date vaccines as “having received a bivalent booster or having received a final shot of the original vaccines less than two months ago.” The share of residents who are up to date ranged from 73 percent in South Dakota to 24 percent in Arizona. Among nursing home staff, the share ranged from 48 percent in California to 10 percent in Alabama.

This new KFF brief finds that only 45% of all nursing facility residents and 22% of staff are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. That is a sharp drop from the 87 percent of nursing facility residents and staff who completed their primary vaccination series. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently defines having up to date vaccines as “having received a bivalent booster or having received a final shot of the original vaccines less than two months ago.” The share of residents who are up to date ranged from 73 percent in South Dakota to 24 percent in Arizona. Among nursing home staff, the share ranged from 48 percent in California to 10 percent in Alabama.

The White House has released a fact sheet outlining how the Administration has collaborated with the disability community and taken action to address the needs of individuals with disabilities while considering the impacts of the pandemic. The Administration has communicated eight key steps they will take to further ensure that individuals with disabilities, regardless of where they live or the level of community transmission of the virus, have equitable access to COVID-19 testing, masks, and other critical mitigation strategies.

The SHIP TA Center has published a one-page handout called “Medicare coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine," which comes with a companion guide for aging network professionals, "Talking about Medicare Coverage of the COVID-19 Vaccine.” The guide addresses biases, engagement & building a trusting relationship, session structure & sample scripts, handling strong emotions or difficult behaviors, frequently asked questions about Medicare coverage and the vaccine, and how to find other COVID resources.

On Friday, September 24, 2021 the CDC recommended booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for people at highest risk of serious illness and those in high risk occupational and institutional settings. CDC guidance now reccomends that individuals should receive a booster shot if they are: 65 years old or older,18 years old or older and live in a long-term care setting, aged 50–64 years and have underlying medical conditions.

The Administration will require COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities to protect themselves and patients from the COVID-19 Delta variant. On Thursday, September 9, 2021, CMS, in collaboration with the CDC, announced that emergency regulations requiring vaccinations for nursing home workers will be expanded to include hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies, among others.

CMS is expanding opportunities for people to receive COVID-19 vaccinations in their home to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries who are hard-to-reach can receive the vaccination. Healthcare providers can now receive additional payments for administering vaccines to multiple residents in one home setting or communal setting of a home.

CMS, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is developing an emergency regulation requiring staff in over 15,000 Medicare and Medicaid-participating nursing homes to get vaccinated. This new requirement is central to protecting the health and safety of nursing home residents and all staff members. Millions of vaccinations have been administered to residents and staff over the last few months and are shown to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, including the Delta variant.