CDC safety panel: J&J vaccine benefits outweigh rare neuro risks seen in older adults
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 26, 2021
The benefits of the shot — including reduced hospitalization, intensive care unit admission and death — outweigh the risk of contracting Guillain-Barre syndrome, the Advisory Committee on Immunization...
Nearly all staff are vaccinated in majority of Connecticut’s long-term care facilities
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 19, 2021
One state is experiencing success with its COVID-19 vaccination mandate: Fully three quarters of LTC facilities in Connecticut have a 95% staff vaccination rate, its Department of Public Health announced...
FDA advisers endorse bivalent vaccine for all COVID mRNA shots
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 27, 2023
A panel of experts on Thursday agreed that the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines should be used as both initial and booster shots, phasing out the original vaccines.
Fall vaccination campaign could avert 160,000 U.S. deaths, analysts project
By
Alicia Lasek (f3)
Jul 27, 2022
Fully 160,000 deaths and 1.7 million hospitalizations could be averted if 80% of the eligible U.S. population received COVID-19 booster doses this fall, the Commonwealth Fund estimates in a new report.
Only 4 states have hit 75 percent LTC staff vaccination goal, new CMS data reveal
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 30, 2021
States that have achieved the industry’s June 30 goal are Hawaii, Vermont, Alaska and California, with staff member vaccination rates ranging from 83% to 75%. By contrast, the lowest-ranked state...
Fed’s booster OK too late? Nursing home loses 8 to coronavirus outbreak this fall
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 17, 2021
A Connecticut nursing home has weathered a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened 89 residents and staff. Booster shots were not yet authorized when the first cases appeared, the operator reports.
‘Another layer of protection’: Senior care industry commends feds’ booster vaccine decision
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 27, 2021
Industry advocates are welcoming the decision to include residents of long-term care settings and healthcare workers in a new federal recommendation to offer COVID-19 booster shots to at-risk adults.
Require COVID-19 vaccination of all healthcare workers, seven clinical groups say
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 14, 2021
Their evidence-based verdict: healthcare institutions and facilities — including long-term care facilities — should require that their personnel be vaccinated as a condition of employment.
Flu shot and a COVID jab? New 2021-2022 flu vaccine guidance points to both
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 27, 2021
Clinicians deciding whether to give flu and COVID-19 vaccine shots together can refer to the latest CDC guidance. It states that COVID-19 shots and other vaccinations may now be co-administered “without...
Two years into pandemic, we’re better prepared to fight off virus variants
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 02, 2021
Despite the threat of the quickly spreading and highly mutated omicron coronavirus variant — which has just landed in the U.S. — we are safer than we were before the pandemic, some experts say.