HHS to LTC operators: Step up your booster clinic timelines before year ends
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 22, 2021
Long-term care operators should speed up plans to help residents boost their immunity before an expected COVID-19 surge hits, a federal official told virtual town hall attendees Tuesday.
CDC: Boosted nursing home residents 10 times less likely to be infected with COVID-19
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 17, 2021
The news, delivered by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, is a bit of cheer amidst other new evidence that COVID-19 cases are increasing among fully vaccinated long-term care residents.
mRNA-1273 has high vaccine effectiveness after five months
Dec 03, 2021
Vaccine effectiveness 87.4 percent against COVID-19 infection, and 95.8 and 97.9 percent against COVID-19 hospitalization, hospital death
Feds gauging threat to vaccine, test and treatment efficacy in face of omicron variant
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 01, 2021
The United States is prepared to address any potential threat to the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments posed by the new variant, according to the White House and federal health officials.
COVID shot boosters for all adults will help to reduce confusion, FDA says
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 22, 2021
The FDA “heard loud and clear” that a simpler booster strategy was needed, its vaccine chief says. But the action may be too late to head off a winter virus surge, observers say.
Eliminating vaccine hesitancy through education
By
Helen Adeosun
Kevin Smith
Nov 17, 2021
The last 19 months have been filled with many unknowns, and healthcare has been forever impacted because of it. The COVID-19 Delta variant is creating continued challenges, filling ICUs and hospital beds...
‘How good are those vaccines now?’ Mixed AARP nursing home report prompts a thorny question
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 15, 2021
A new AARP report shows encouraging trends in COVID-19 cases and vaccinations. But the steady rate of resident deaths raises concerns for the future as vaccine efficacy wanes, analysts say.
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine highly effective in octo- and nonagenarians, German study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 10, 2021
The data, from 700,000 older residents of Bavaria, resolves questions about the vaccine’s protectiveness that weren’t answered by the drugmaker’s clinical trials, investigators say.
Ready or not, it’s time for some resolve
By
James M. Berklan
Nov 05, 2021
The end of year is always a popular time to ponder one’s next moves, both personal and professional. This year that sentiment takes on more meaning than ever.
Immunocompromised may need fourth COVID-19 shot: CDC
Oct 27, 2021
Small studies have shown that fully vaccinated immunocompromised people account for ~44 percent of breakthrough cases leading to hospitalization