Per the CDC, 75%-89% of people must be vaccinated against the coronavirus to allow us to acquire “herd immunity” so that we can return to normal activities. Mass vaccination faces a myriad of hurdles that must be overcome: nationwide planning and logistics, vaccine production, public distrust, and lingering scientific unknowns. Dr. Fauci, Director of NIAID, told Axios, “what we have …
In a recent article published in Skilled Nursing News, Lori Porter, the CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) said “there is hesitancy, of course, until we know if it’s mandated or not, we’re not really going to know exactly what’s going to happen. From what we can tell, the CDC won’t make it mandatory, …
The Institute for the Advancement of Senior Care recently published a great article containing several strategies and resources your facility can use to prepare to administer COVID-19 vaccines. Among the resources is a website from the CDC detailing the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program for COVID-19 Vaccination, along with the #GetVaccinated Communications Toolkit from AHCA/NCAL that contains a vaccine …
Create posters/flyers that you can hang and distribute in your facilities about the importance and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine. Consider having a poster contest with staff and/or residents, with the person who creates the best poster about the COVID-19 vaccine winning a prize. Everyone can vote. Hold regular team meetings/group huddles to allow for education about the safety and …
The ACIP recommended that nursing home residents and staff members be among the first people in the United States to receive the coronavirus vaccine. However, each state has to figure out where long-term care staff members must go to get vaccinated; some may have to go off-site. Public health officials are also confronting hesitance among some workers as well as …
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been vigilant in providing information about both new vaccines that have been approved to provide protection against COVID-19. On December 11, 2020, the FDA issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the Moderna vaccine received an EUA shortly after on December 18, 2020. The FDA has web …
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 43,548 participants underwent randomization, of whom 43,448 received injections: 21,720 with BNT162b2 and 21,728 with placebo. There were 8 cases of COVID-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second dose among participants assigned to receive BNT162b2 and 162 cases among those assigned to placebo; BNT162b2 was 95% effective …
Conspiracy theories and misinformation fuel mistrust in vaccines and could push levels that potential COVID-19 vaccines are taken in the United States and Britain below the rates needed to protect communities against the disease, according to a new study. The study of 8,000 people in the two countries found that fewer people would “definitely” take a COVID-19 vaccine than the …
The JAMA Network recently released a new video to their Q&A series that discussed the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. Topics included: Pfizer EUA application Differences in EUAs for vaccines vs drugs Surprises in data Post-authorization safety surveillance Unknowns: duration of protection, asymptomatic transmission, virus mutation How vaccines can reduce non-COVID-19 excess deaths Patients with allergies Bell’s Palsy FDA role …
