45% of Nursing Home Staff Still Unvaccinated Against COVID
45% of Nursing Home Staff Still Unvaccinated Against COVID Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.
Scroll down to the “Search for a Nursing Home” map and either use the search box or the zoom function to locate the nursing home of interest.
Click on the nursing home and a box will appear with the resident and staff vaccination rates listed at the bottom.
These rates are also available in a downloadable data set at the bottom of the webpage. New data is released weekly on Thursdays. Nursing home staff, who come and go from their workplaces while often interacting with the wider community between shifts, are a main vessel for COVID-19 to enter and spread through facilities, . Many nursing home workers earn just $13 per hour, don't receive sick leave or benefits, and work in multiple facilities to make ends meet. When at work, they're often in close contact with residents while feeding, bathing and dressing them. And due to widespread staffing shortfalls — at least a fifth of all nursing homes nationwide have every month for the past year — they're often tending to more residents than recommended during their shifts. While rare, breakthrough infections — which occur when a vaccinated person contracts the virus — can present another danger to nursing home residents. These older and often immunocompromised people are less likely to mount an immune response when vaccinated, says Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. , where 75 of the 83 residents were fully vaccinated, while just 61 of 116 staffers were. Nearly 50 people became infected, including 18 fully vaccinated residents. Three residents — including one who was vaccinated — died, according to a review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Breakthrough infections have also been identified in nursing homes in Chicago, according to . Vulnerable residents aside, vaccinated workers also protect themselves. More than 585,000 workers have tested positive for the virus so far; almost 2,000 have died from it. Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in nursing homes had . The federal government began requiring individual nursing homes beginning in mid-May. This week, the CMS released its most robust set of results, which includes the vaccination rates from around 90 percent of the nation's nursing homes as of June 13. The information is vital for consumers, says Megan O'Reilly, vice president of health and family government affairs at AARP. “Transparency is key,” she says. “This information is needed in order for people to make the best, safest decisions for their loved ones who may need long-term care.”
45% of Nursing Home Staff Still Unvaccinated Against COVID-19
Data shows challenge of keeping the coronavirus out of facilities
Joe Raedle/Getty Image News In the nation's nursing homes, an average of only 55 percent of workers are fully vaccinated against , according to , even though these long-term care facilities have witnessed massive carnage from the pandemic, including almost 135,000 COVID-19 deaths among residents and staff. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Vaccination rates for nursing home residents are much higher, with a national average of 78 percent fully vaccinated in each facility, the data released Thursday from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows. Widespread vaccine uptake among residents has helped drive down COVID-19 infections in nursing homes — from over the New Year's period to from mid-April to mid-May, according to AARP analysis of federal data. Deaths have also plummeted, from nearly 20,000 to around 800 for the same reporting periods. But the low staff vaccination rates cast doubt on the nursing home industry reaching its goal of vaccinating 75 percent of its almost 1.5 million workers by the end of June and show the challenge of keeping COVID out of nursing homes over the long term.Why exactly do workers need to be vaccinated
Check your loved one s nursing home
To see the percentage of fully vaccinated residents or staff in a specific federally certified nursing home, visit the CMS's .Scroll down to the “Search for a Nursing Home” map and either use the search box or the zoom function to locate the nursing home of interest.
Click on the nursing home and a box will appear with the resident and staff vaccination rates listed at the bottom.
These rates are also available in a downloadable data set at the bottom of the webpage. New data is released weekly on Thursdays. Nursing home staff, who come and go from their workplaces while often interacting with the wider community between shifts, are a main vessel for COVID-19 to enter and spread through facilities, . Many nursing home workers earn just $13 per hour, don't receive sick leave or benefits, and work in multiple facilities to make ends meet. When at work, they're often in close contact with residents while feeding, bathing and dressing them. And due to widespread staffing shortfalls — at least a fifth of all nursing homes nationwide have every month for the past year — they're often tending to more residents than recommended during their shifts. While rare, breakthrough infections — which occur when a vaccinated person contracts the virus — can present another danger to nursing home residents. These older and often immunocompromised people are less likely to mount an immune response when vaccinated, says Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. , where 75 of the 83 residents were fully vaccinated, while just 61 of 116 staffers were. Nearly 50 people became infected, including 18 fully vaccinated residents. Three residents — including one who was vaccinated — died, according to a review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > Breakthrough infections have also been identified in nursing homes in Chicago, according to . Vulnerable residents aside, vaccinated workers also protect themselves. More than 585,000 workers have tested positive for the virus so far; almost 2,000 have died from it. Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in nursing homes had . The federal government began requiring individual nursing homes beginning in mid-May. This week, the CMS released its most robust set of results, which includes the vaccination rates from around 90 percent of the nation's nursing homes as of June 13. The information is vital for consumers, says Megan O'Reilly, vice president of health and family government affairs at AARP. “Transparency is key,” she says. “This information is needed in order for people to make the best, safest decisions for their loved ones who may need long-term care.”