Nursing Home Staff with Most Patient Contact Least Likely to be Vaccinated, CDC Study Finds

As calls for vaccine mandates have grown louder in recent weeks for the long-term care industry, new data shows that nursing home staff with the most patient contact appear to be the least likely among their health care colleagues to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

While the percentage of fully vaccinated nursing home residents ranges from 92.76% in Vermont to 66.15% in Nevada, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data, staff numbers are nearly 23 percentage points lower nationally.

As of July 18, 58.6% of nursing home staff have been fully vaccinated, according to CMS. For nursing home residents, the national average sits at 81.3%.

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Several factors appear to correlate disparities in COVID-19 vaccination coverage among long-term care health care personnel, including job category and socioeconomic factors, a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control indicates.

According to self-reported data from 300 long-term care facilities from March 1 through April 4, representing approximately 1.8% of the facilities nationwide, 56.8% of the staff were shown to have completed their vaccinations, slightly lower than CMS’s findings.

Physicians and advanced practice providers, including residents, fellows, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, had the highest vaccination percentage among health care professionals at over 75%.

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Aides, which includes certified nursing assistants, nurse aides, medication aides and medication assistants, had the lowest vaccination rates, at 45.6%, and nearly a third of respondents, or 33.2%, declined the vaccine outright.

The percentage of aides who were completely vaccinated was also lower among those working in facilities located in zip code areas with higher proportions of ethnic and racial minorities, lower household median income, higher poverty and lower high school completion, the study showed.

This matches previously observed trends in the health care workforce.

The 30 percentage-point difference in COVID-19 vaccination coverage between aides and physicians shows that even within the long-term care industry, perception of the vaccine varies widely.

“Together the data suggests that vaccination disparities among job categories likely mirror social disparities in general as well as disparities in the surrounding communities,” the CDC researchers noted. “These findings suggest that vaccination promotion and outreach efforts focused on socially vulnerable and marginalized groups and communities could help address inequities.”

Vaccination rates for nursing home workers also vary widely from state-to-state.

Only five states across the country have above 75% of its health care personnel completely vaccinated, according to CMS. Nine states were shown to be under 50%.

Massachusetts became the first state to mandate vaccines for nursing home workers this week, but at 74.36% of its nursing home staff currently vaccinated, the state’s numbers compare favorably to the rest of the nation.

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