The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week stopped reporting the number of COVID-19 doses distributed to the agency’s pharmacy partners as part of the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program as vaccinations expand to other settings.
But it has expanded information on some metrics surrounding the efforts to inoculate residents on its COVID-19 data tracker, which includes a section on vaccination in long-term care facilities.
“With vaccinations by pharmacy partners expanding to other non-LTC settings, the number of doses distributed to pharmacy partners no longer reflects the number of doses distributed for the federal LTC program,” a spokesperson for the CDC told Skilled Nursing News on January 20. “Distribution data cannot be separated between the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for LTC Program, the pharmacy retail transfer program, and doses distributed from state allocations directly to pharmacies.”
As of January 26 at 4 p.m. Central time, the total number of doses administered in long-term care facilities was 2.73 million, with 2.47 million people in such facilities having one or more doses.
The number of people in long-term care facilities with two doses was 246,632 as of January 26.
These facilities in the program include nursing homes and assisted living facilities, with 89% of skilled nursing facilities, or 12,420 out of roughly 14,000, starting vaccination of staff and residents as of January 20. About 23% of assisted living and other similar facilities, or 14,423 out of roughly 60,000 have begun that process as of that date.
Some jurisdictions have opted out of the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for LTC Program altogether, with the entire state of West Virginia crafting its own approach to vaccination and Los Angeles County withdrawing from the program.
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) reported on Monday that it completed the first round of vaccination clinics at 8,000 SNFs around the U.S., while Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) also published updated data showing a finished first wave. That date, January 25, was the deadline both companies had reported to complete the first round of clinics in the vaccination partnership.
The CDC data confirms reports from across the country that residents of long-term care facilities are getting vaccinated at higher rate than staff, with 1.22 million residents counted as having one or more doses, compared with 824,619 staff. Another 427,760 were classified by the CDC as “unreported.”
Interestingly, the gap between residents and staff closes when tracking the number of people who have received their second dose.
Specifically, 133,485 residents have received their second dose, while 109,581 staff have done the same. Another 3,566 second doses are classified as not reported.
The CDC data shows that despite the initially slow rollout in long-term care facilities, states are starting to pick up the pace on vaccinations in the setting. According to the January 26 data, eight states have now administered more than 100,001 total doses under the Federal Pharmacy Partnership for LTC Program: California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
The CDC noted that the numbers of people receiving one or more doses and two or more doses were determined using information that the agency’s pharmacy partners reported. That information includes dose number, administration date, recipient ID, and date of submission.
“A dose number was determined for nearly all reported doses administered but, because there are some missing data for dose number, the sum of people receiving 1 or more doses and people receiving 2 doses will not exactly equal the total doses administered,” the CDC said. “Staff and resident vaccinations were determined based on administration type information received by CDC from pharmacy partners. Not all vaccine doses could be categorized as being administered to LTC staff or residents.”
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