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.
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.
‘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.
LeadingAge releases booster shot toolkit for senior living, home care settings
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 06, 2021
The kit provides links to sources of support for on-site booster clinic set-up and guidance for administrators who must encourage off-site vaccine access.
Clinical briefs for Monday, Oct. 4
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 04, 2021
Patients on chemotherapy likely not fully protected by COVID vaccine … Unauthorized nursing home COVID tests lead to audit demands … ‘Game-changing’ wellness model takes person-centric approach...
Vaccine potency wanes, but third COVID shot restores 95 percent efficacy, new data show
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 16, 2021
New data from vaccine maker Pfizer and Israel’s health ministry may help U.S. health agencies make a case for recommending COVID-19 booster shots, various sources report.
Prescribing off-label COVID boosters may put providers at legal risk: report
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 06, 2021
Clinicians who provide additional COVID-19 shots to fully vaccinated patients may be at risk for legal claims if they prescribe the doses outside of current federal guidelines, CDC says.