Less than 40% of workers at nursing homes offered the coronavirus vaccine got the shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A new CDC study examining the first month of the vaccination period from Dec. 18, 2020, to Jan. 17, 2021, found that only 37.5% of staff members at over 11,000 skilled nursing facilities received a dose of the vaccine. By comparison, 77.8% of residents received a vaccine.
Numerous news accounts in the last month have focused on the reluctance of staff at nursing homes to be vaccinated. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 29% of staff were definitely not or probably not going to get the vaccine. Many facilities have taken to offering bonuses and paid time off to persuade staff members to get vaccinated.
Staff members are believed to be a major pathway for the coronavirus to get into long-term care facilities because they are much more likely than residents to interact with the wider community. Indeed, during the pandemic, many facilities put strict limits on outside visitors.
The study noted that it could be undercounting the number of staff who received a vaccine. Some jurisdictions have encouraged staff to be vaccinated through programs for healthcare workers. Only workers vaccinated at actual nursing homes were included in the CDC’s estimates.
