| CMS Data Show 82 Percent Drop in Nursing Home COVID Cases | https://www.providermagazine.com/Articles/Pages/CMS-Data-Show-82-Percent-Drop-in-Nursing-Home-COVID-Cases.aspx | CMS Data Show 82 Percent Drop in Nursing Home COVID Cases | <p>A report released on March 2 said nursing homes have seen the lowest number of new COVID-19 cases since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) started tracking back in May 2020, suggesting that the vaccines are working, according to the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL).</p><p>Recent CMS data show that nursing homes have seen an 82 percent decline in new COVID cases among residents since the peak during the week of Dec. 20, 2020, when there were more than 30,000 new resident cases.</p><p>In the same period, community cases in the general population dropped by 46 percent, showcasing that vaccines are having an impact in protecting the elderly population in nursing homes, AHCA/NCAL said.</p><p>“We still have a long road ahead, but these numbers are incredibly encouraging and a major morale booster for frontline caregivers who have been working tirelessly every day for a year to protect our residents,” said Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of AHCA/NCAL. </p><p>“These new data showcase just how important it is for nursing homes residents and staff, as well as the general public, to get the vaccine because it is clearly working.”</p><p>The report also said cases have dropped to the lowest level since CMS started tracking weekly COVID cases in nursing homes last May.<br>Along with the lowest number of new cases, COVID-related deaths in nursing homes declined by 63 percent since Dec. 20, 2020.</p><p>“Though this report brings hope, we cannot let our guard down. We must continue to encourage folks to get vaccinated, especially caregivers and staff,” Parkinson said.</p><p>“Public health officials must also continue to ensure that long term care residents and staff remain the highest priority for accessing the vaccine, as the on-site clinics with CVS, Walgreens, and other pharmacy partners are coming to a close.”</p><p>Another top priority, he added, is the AHCA/NCAL call for the Biden administration to review its current guidance to nursing homes on restricting visitors and group activities.</p><p>“With millions of residents and caregivers now fully protected thanks to the vaccines, residents must be able to safely reengage in meaningful activities and be reunited with their loved ones,” Parkinson said.</p><p>In December, AHCA/NCAL launched <a href="https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Pages/GetVaccinated.aspx">#GetVaccinated,</a> a nationwide campaign to encourage all long term care residents, families, and staff members to consent to the vaccine as well as provide credible information to help inform their decision. Last week, AHCA/NCAL also <a href="https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Press-Releases/Pages/Nursing-Homes-Set-Goal-To-Get-75-Percent-Of-Staff-Vaccinated-By-June-30.aspx">announced</a> the nationwide goal of getting 75 percent of all long term staff vaccinated by June 30.</p> | A simultaneous 46 percent drop in local community cases shows that vaccines are having an impact in protecting the nursing home population. | 2021-03-02T05:00:00Z | <img alt="" src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/senior_woman_doc_1.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | COVID-19;Caregiving |
| COVID-19 Cases Decline in Nursing Homes After Vaccine Rollout | https://www.providermagazine.com/Articles/Pages/COVID-19-Cases-Decline-in-Nursing-Homes-After-Vaccine-Rollout.aspx | COVID-19 Cases Decline in Nursing Homes After Vaccine Rollout | <p>Vaccinations of long term care residents in U.S. nursing homes appears to be putting a sizable dent in the number of new COVID-19 infections among this most vulnerable population, according to a new blog post by Omar Zahraoui, a data analyst at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC).</p><p>While nursing homes have disproportionately suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, over the past year the rate of new COVID-19 cases among residents moved nearly in tandem with the rate of new cases within the nation as a whole, he said. However, with the distribution and administration of vaccines aimed at these residents taking hold, the infection rates have declined sharply in nursing centers, much more than the general population.</p><p>“Within a few weeks of the launch of the Long Term Care (LTC) vaccination program administered through the Pharmacy Partnership Program, with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 21, 2020, and the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 28, new COVID-19 cases within skilled nursing properties have been sharply lower than the U.S. overall new cases at any previous point,” Zahraoui said.<br> <br>Various reports show that residents overwhelming opt in to receiving vaccinations, whereas during a similar time less than 10 percent of the U.S. population had received at least one vaccine shot. These initial results are promising and provide another potential data point on the effectiveness of vaccinations in preventing new COVID-19 cases, he said.</p><p>At the beginning of February, more than 30 million people had been inoculated in the United States, and the vaccines appear to be safe and effective. “According to the latest <a href="https://blog.nic.org/executive-survey-insights-wave-20">NIC Executive Survey Insights (Wave 20), </a>which collected survey results from Jan. 11 to 24, “two-thirds of residents (66 percent) and nearly one-half of staff (47 percent) have had their first dose,” Zahraoui said.</p><p>“Increasingly, there is support for the idea that as the number of people who are vaccinated increases, the number of hospitalizations should potentially decrease, as was indicated in a study of trends in Israel and its high vaccination rates,” he said.</p><p>Note, the vaccination rates reported by the federal government in its Jan. 17 <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7005e2.htm?s_cid=mm7005e2_w">Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report </a>show a median of 77.8 percent of residents receiving the vaccination and 37.5 percent of staff members.</p><p>Zahraoui said that since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began reporting data in late May, newly confirmed cases within skilled nursing properties have followed the same pattern as the U.S. overall new cases, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).</p><p>For the week ending Dec. 20, both overall new cases in the United States and within skilled nursing properties reached new peaks before slipping back in late December. “In fact, U.S. new virus cases reached a seven-day moving average of about 220,000 on Dec. 20, while the per-resident rate of new COVID-19 infections set a record at 3.03 percent at the same time, according to data compiled by NIC,” Zahraoui said.</p><p>However, in recent weeks there has been a noticeable divergence in these trends as the vaccines are distributed in nursing homes. NIC’s <a href="https://www.nic.org/snf-covid-tracker">Skilled Nursing COVID Tracker </a>featuring the latest CMS data update as of Jan. 24 shows that case counts of COVID-19 and fatalities at skilled nursing properties have started to decline.</p><p>He said although new cases in the United States (seven-day moving average) reached levels higher than the prior December peaks by Jan. 10 (244,702), newly confirmed cases within skilled nursing properties continued falling steadily and remained far below the previous peak seen on Dec. 20, with a 1 percentage point decline recorded over four weeks, from 3.03 percent on Dec. 20 to 1.96 percent on Jan. 17.</p><p>Similarly, new coronavirus fatalities among skilled nursing residents have flattened and slightly decreased from Dec. 20 levels, while U.S new fatalities (seven-day moving average) continued to climb at a faster pace. For the week ending Dec. 20, fatalities in nursing homes accounted for approximately 31 percent of overall new fatalities in the United States. By Jan. 17, the skilled nursing new fatalities as a share of total fatalities in the United States dropped to 21 percent.</p><p>“The decrease in new cases and fatalities in skilled nursing properties relative to trends in the total United States is encouraging, particularly given the timing relative to widespread distribution of the vaccine to long term care properties,” said NIC President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Jurutka.</p><p>NIC has been publishing a regularly updated <a href="https://www.nic.org/snf-covid-tracker">weekly surveillance report </a>since June 2020 on the incidence of COVID-19 cases and fatalities among residents in the nation’s nursing care properties.</p><p>For more reading on the effects of COVID-19 in skilled nursing properties, see the following report:<br><a href="http://www.nic.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/SNCT-Insights-Report-Special-Issue.pdf">www.nic.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/SNCT-Insights-Report-Special-Issue.pdf</a>.<br></p> | Nursing center infection rates dropping much more quickly than those in the general population. | 2021-02-11T05:00:00Z | <img alt="" src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/1220_news1.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | COVID-19;Management |
| Nursing Homes Unveil New Goal to Have 75 Percent of Staff Vaccinated by June 30 | https://www.providermagazine.com/Articles/Pages/Nursing-Homes-Unveil-New-Goal-to-Have-75-Percent-of-Staff-Vaccinated-by-June-30.aspx | Nursing Homes Unveil New Goal to Have 75 Percent of Staff Vaccinated by June 30 | <p>With evidence COVID-19 vaccinations are helping to drive down infections in nursing homes and other long term care settings, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and LeadingAge are upping the ante by announcing a new nationwide goal of getting 75 percent of the approximately 1.5 million nursing home staff vaccinated by June 30.</p><p>Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the industry leaders said now is the time to act even bolder on staff vaccinations.</p><p>“With COVID-19 vaccinations being distributed across long term care facilities over the past two months, we have already seen a decline in cases in nursing homes, indicating that the vaccines are working,” said Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of AHCA. </p><p>“Many of our staff continue to be excited about the vaccines and the hope they represent, but some caregivers still have questions,” he said. “We are continuing to inform our staff about the credibility and safety of the vaccines through our #GetVaccinated campaign, and we hope this goal will further encourage more of our staff members to get the vaccine.” </p><p>In December, AHCA said it launched <a href="https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Pages/GetVaccinated.aspx">#GetVaccinated ,</a> a national campaign aimed at encouraging all long term care residents, families, and staff members to consent to the vaccine as well as provide credible information to help inform their decision. </p><p>“Achieving a high rate of staff vaccinations will be a game changer for nursing homes. Real progress has been made in vaccinating nursing home residents. Now we must also achieve high rates of staff vaccinations,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge. </p><p>“It’s critical to acknowledge the reasons for vaccine hesitancy are real and varied, and staff concerns must be understood and thoughtfully addressed as we work toward this goal. LeadingAge is committed to doing all we can with our partners and the [Biden] administration to ensure staff at our mission-driven members—at nursing homes and other care settings—have the information, conversations, and support they need to get vaccinated.” </p><p>LeadingAge, in partnership with the <a href="https://blackcoalitionagainstcovid.org/">Black Coalition Against COVID </a>(BCAC), is sponsoring a national town hall on March 4 to address concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine among all levels of staff working in aging services communities. </p><p>The association also regularly <a href="https://leadingage.org/covid-19-vaccine-information-and-resources">shares important vaccine resources </a>and hosts special webinars to connect members with experts on vaccine education. </p><p>According to a preliminary <a href="https://www.ahcancal.org/Data-and-Research/Center-for-HPE/Documents/CHPE-Report-Vaccine-Effectiveness-Feb2021.pdf">analysis, </a>COVID cases decreased at a faster rate among nursing homes that had completed their first vaccine clinic, compared to those nearby that had not yet administered the vaccine in the first month of the vaccine rollout. Recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data show cases and deaths in nursing homes are declining rapidly, which indicates the vaccines are reducing the spread of the virus, according to AHCA. </p><p>“We look forward to working with President Biden’s administration and the CDC to make this goal happen,” Parkinson said. </p><p>“We cannot chance slowing the positive progress we have already made. Long term care facilities have been at the forefront of the pandemic since the beginning, and our staff care for some of the most susceptible to the virus, making it even more imperative that their caregivers get vaccinated,” he said.</p><p>“The sooner we can get more of our staff vaccinated, the sooner we will be able to defeat this deadly virus.”</p> | CMS data show cases and deaths in nursing homes are declining rapidly, which indicates the vaccines are helping drive down infections. | 2021-02-25T05:00:00Z | <img alt="" src="/Articles/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/mask_4.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | COVID-19;Caregiving |