Biden Administration Launches Campaign to Improve COVID-19 Bivalent Booster Uptake
The Biden Administration announced on November 22 a 6-week campaign to improve COVID-19 booster uptake rates. The campaign will focus on reaching seniors and other communities hardest hit by COVID-19, including a focus on nursing homes.
As part of this campaign, CMS will focus on the requirement for nursing homes to educate and offer the COVID-19 vaccine, including subsequent boosters, outlined in QSO-21-19-NH. State survey agencies will be verifying that facilities are complying with this requirement, looking particularly at facilities with low publicly reported vaccination rates, including booster rates. Out-of-compliance facilities may face enforcement actions.
AHCA/NCAL recommends that facilities verify their vaccination rates, including booster rates, using the CMS COVID-19 data website. If the posted rates are low, facilities should prepare for outreach from the state survey agencies to ensure compliance with QSO-21-19-NH. If the posted rates are not accurate, facilities should examine their process for NHSN reporting and make changes as needed.
In nursing facilities, the overall up-to-date rate, including the bivalent booster, is 43%. While this is substantially higher than in the general population, there is wide variation in booster rates among facilities. While over a quarter of nursing homes report up-to-date rates of more than 72.4%, another quarter report rates of less than 7.3%.
When it comes to COVID-19 boosters, keep in mind that they are proven to be effective in protecting individuals from serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 even when they have a breakthrough infection. Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines is particularly important for nursing home residents due to their underlying health conditions.
CMS also issued QSO-23-03-ALL encouraging facilities to focus on the timely use of COVID-19 therapeutics. These treatments can prevent serious illness and hospitalizations. They can also save the lives of high-risk individuals who would otherwise be at risk of severe complications even when vaccinated.
Read the AHCA/NCAL/LeadingAge press statement about the announcement and their all-hands-on-deck plan they shared with the Administration to encourage a collaborative approach to increase vaccination rates. Questions? Contact AHCA at [email protected].