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Residents of long-term care homes were supposed to be the first to receive a valuable COVID-19 vaccination, thanks to an innovative federal partnership. But so far, the deployment of vaccines to the state’s most vulnerable population has mostly caused frustration – and now some counties are offering vaccinations to nursing homes and assisted living facilities from their limited supply. rather than continue to wait for the federal immunization program.
Using doses of vaccine provided by Contra Costa County, John Muir Health will vaccinate the people of Byron Park in Walnut Creek on Wednesday, following last week’s injections given to residents and employees at another facility, Viamonte. , which expected to rely on the federal program. And this week, staff and residents at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, one of the state’s largest skilled nursing facilities, received their immunizations from the San Francisco Department of Public Health. .
“The federal government screwed this up,” said Michael Wasserman, geriatrician and former president of the California Association for Long-Term Care Medicine who criticized the federal plan, which is supposed to work by providing vaccines directly to CVS and Walgreens for senior homes.
However, it is difficult to get a complete picture of what is happening with the federal program in California. Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to a request for information and a CVS spokesperson insisted the company had started giving vaccinations to nursing homes in California on. Dec. 28. But the Bay Area News Group spoke with only one San Francisco Campus facility for Jewish life – that says it is currently receiving vaccinations from CVS.
The stakes are high as cases continue to increase in long-term care facilities. At least 23,335 residents and staff of nursing homes and assisted living centers have been actively infected with COVID-19 this week, according to the latest state data. And at least 9,443 people working and living in these establishments have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
Months ago, federal officials announced a plan to help, calling on Walgreens and CVS to work directly with nursing homes to immunize the hundreds of thousands of elderly Americans in this vulnerable population. This was supposed to happen on a separate route from health worker and other vaccinations, which were channeled through state and county health departments. But by early December, the effort had stalled in delay.
The first doses were shipped to these pharmacies directly from the manufacturers ahead of the holidays, but many establishments are only now finding out when the cavalry will arrive – and in many cases, it is not very soon. At Chaparral House, a skilled nursing facility in Berkeley, executives expected the first vaccines to be given there in December, but have now been told to plan for mid-January.
Chaparral House COO Chuck Cole said his establishment attempted to register in October to bring Walgreens out, but went months without hearing anything and had to re-register several times before the site Government web does not show the community as registered.
“The Trump administration’s bravado and Operation Warp Speed did not turn out to be very precise or the deployment was smooth or fast,” Cole said.
According to the California Department of Public Health, about 90% of qualified nursing facilities and 65% of assisted living facilities statewide have signed up to receive vaccinations through the federal program. For those who have not registered, the department said, “The local health services, in partnership with the local facility, will make a decision regarding the distribution and administration of vaccines for the facility.
A spokesperson for Contra Costa County said he was coordinating vaccinations at 80 facilities, including small room and care sites. Spokesman Will Harper said the county had stepped up its efforts as it was told Walgreens and CVS plan to vaccinate people who live and work in skilled nursing facilities first, and then turn to medical professionals. residential care facilities. Given the disproportionate number of coronavirus cases and deaths linked to care homes, he said, the county felt such a vulnerable population “could not afford to wait.”
San Mateo County Health Chief Louise Rogers said she was “encouraged” by recent progress CVS and Walgreens are making to begin vaccinations in the county, with 11 facilities planned to date. Nonetheless, she said the county had separately partnered with the Safeway Pharmacy to provide injections to around 1,300 vulnerable residents and staff at collective care facilities. She said it was “a role we expected to play as this massive effort gains momentum.”
Other Bay Area counties did not immediately respond to questions about whether they were working on similar efforts. In Los Angeles County, officials said in mid-December they would withdraw from the federal program in an effort to distribute vaccines more quickly to nursing homes for the elderly.
Walgreens did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a CVS spokesperson said things were going as planned.
“We started making immunization visits to facilities in California on December 28, the date set by the CDC for that state,” said Monica Prinzing. “In accordance with California’s vaccine prioritization guidelines, vaccinations at skilled nursing facilities were activated prior to vaccinations at assisted living facilities. As a result, we will start vaccination in assisted living centers on January 11. “
But advocates for nursing homes painted a much darker picture.
“Not only did they have a bad plan, they didn’t prepare. And what they have prepared is bad, ”Wasserman said. CVS and Walgreens “wouldn’t know of a retirement home in a senior apartment complex. When they come in, they don’t understand the workflow, the residents.
The delays also left families searching for information.
Maddie Napel and her family were hoping her brother, who lives in a small residential home for disabled adults, would be among the first to get the vaccine.
“No one in my family has been allowed to see him since February, and we desperately want to see him – alive and well – again,” Napel said.
But beyond a period from mid-January to the end of January, Napel’s family were not told of a specific vaccine date. Until then, they continue their wait.
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