Four Democratic Senators penned a letter this week to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, urging the agency to take action to protect nursing home residents and staff against the rapidly spreading omicron and delta variants.
HHS needs to help nursing homes pick up the pace of booster and third dose administration, the senators wrote, given only 55% of fully vaccinated residents have received the extra protection.
Only 23% of nursing homes staff on a national level have received such doses, they noted in the letter. In some states that statistic is “significantly lower.”
“Research has shown that people of color are more likely to live in nursing homes with low vaccination rates, while Black and Hispanic people in the general population make up a disproportionately small share of booster dose recipients,” the letter states.
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) requested more information regarding the Biden administration’s goals and associated timelines for boosters in 2022, and what steps the agency is taking to increase vaccination rates.
Other queries ask the administration to outline what the agency has done to ensure additional doses account for racial disparities in health equity, and efforts made to get boosters to nursing homes in rural communities.
The letter also questions the agency’s efforts to help facilities overcome supply chain issues and staffing shortages, among other “obstacles,” while trying to obtain and administer boosters and third doses in a timely manner.
The final request asks the agency to be more transparent with the pace of boosters and additional doses – residents, workers, their families and the public deserve an “accurate and timely view” of booster pacing in nursing homes, the senators wrote.
The senators requested answers to their letter by Jan. 19, 2022.
Currently, about 87% of residents and 77% of workers are vaccinated, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS).
