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.
BREAKING: Feds expand COVID vaccine mandate to all healthcare workers
By
James M. Berklan
Sep 09, 2021
Staff in all Medicare- and Medicaid-certified facilities will soon be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Thursday afternoon.
‘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.
Omicron renders Pfizer vaccine less effective; variant surge to hit U.S. by January
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 15, 2021
The vaccine is less able to prevent infection, but retains 70% protection against hospitalization, a new study shows. The news comes as federal health officials warn that omicron is spreading rapidly in...
Despite progress, nursing homes expected to fall short of 75% staff vaccination goal
By
Danielle Brown
Jun 23, 2021
There’s still much progress needed for long-term care industry providers to meet their self-imposed goal of getting three-quarters of all nursing home workers vaccinated against COVID-19 by this time...
Unvaccinated nursing home staff in the hot seat as CDC investigates COVID-19 breakthrough cases
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 23, 2021
Several Colorado senior care facilities are at the center of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 investigation, and public health officials there are zeroing in on unvaccinated staff...
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...
What exactly are we waiting to see? It’s time to act on mandates
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jul 14, 2021
As a coalition of long-term care medical and infectious disease experts Tuesday called on healthcare facilities to require COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of employment, I couldn’t help but think of...
BREAKING: CMS to mandate COVID vaccines for nursing home staff
By
Danielle Brown
Aug 18, 2021
Nursing homes participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs will be required to have all staff vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to continue receiving federal funding for the programs.