Paxlovid keeping hospitalizations, deaths low as COVID-19 infections rise, White House official says
By
Alicia Lasek (f3)
May 19, 2022
Clinicians are writing 20,000 prescriptions for Paxlovid each day, helping to keep severe outcomes in check, the COVID-19 Response Coordinator said Wednesday.
Early vaccination sped up decline in COVID infections, study in Genesis facilities finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 20, 2021
Nursing homes that administered shots early in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout experienced a lower rate of new infections compared to later-vaccinating sites. The results underscore the efficacy of the drugs...
Untracked COVID: Nursing home workers have died at twice the rate of hospital workers
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 09, 2021
Nursing home care providers have the sad distinction of accounting for a large proportion of healthcare workers’ COVID deaths, according to new 2020 data that was not tracked by the U.S. government....
The waiting is the hardest part
By
John O'Connor
May 03, 2021
Our ride on the pandemic Tilt-A-Whirl won’t last indefinitely but it’s not over yet.
COVID vaccine protects elderly; delivery program has buy-in from nearly all U.S. nursing homes
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 19, 2020
Fully 99% of skilled nursing facilities nationwide have signed on with the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program vaccine delivery initiative, HHS says. The news arrived just as Pfizer...
Risk of COVID-19 death rare in vaccinated, even among at-risk seniors with comorbidities: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 10, 2022
Investigators drew on data from 1.2 million U.S. patients who completed a primary vaccination series by October 2021. Severe COVID-19 outcomes, including respiratory failure, ICU admission, or death, were...
Newly identified ‘auto-antibody’ mechanism may play key role in seniors’ COVID deaths
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 23, 2021
The finding may explain why some people — and notably older adults — suffer more severe COVID-19 illness than others. The discovery has implications for treatment timing and vaccination, investigators...
Geriatrician survey: Swift telehealth adoption was ‘instrumental’ to pandemic patient care
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 18, 2022
Responses by Genesis HealthCare physicians offer insight into the dramatic shift in care delivery that took place as COVID-19 raged in 2020.
CDC to fund LTC infection control strike teams nationwide starting in October
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 20, 2021
The initiative will allow states and other U.S. jurisdictions to “staff, train and deploy” strike teams to help long-term care operations with known or suspected COVID-19 infections, CDC says.
The COVID race: Vaccines 90% effective in frontline workers, but variant cases rising
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 30, 2021
The pace of U.S. vaccinations must hold up against the effects of spreading virus variants to keep further outbreaks under control, according to the CDC and expert observers.