Nursing homes not hitting staff covid vaccine goal

Only 20 percent, or 1 in 5, of the nation's 15,000-plus nursing homes achieved the target as of June 20, according to AARP's analysis. Hawaii, which has hit the 75 percent staff

vaccination goal in 86 percent of its facilities, reports the highest rate. California follows, with 66 percent of facilities hitting the target, then comes Vermont with 55 percent. But in

46 states, less than half of nursing homes have reached the 75 percent staff vaccination threshold. In Kentucky, with the lowest count, only three percent of facilities have vaccinated 75

percent of staff. In Georgia, only 4 percent of facilities have hit the target, while only 5 percent did in Alabama, Florida and Idaho. David Gifford, chief medical officer of the AHCA,

which represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities across the country, has said the rates show “more work needs to be done.” "Vaccination rates among

long-term care staff continue to mirror other health care settings and general population rates, especially in certain parts of the country, because there continues to be a large amount of

misinformation circulating around these safe and effective vaccines,” Gifford said in a statement last month. A SOUTHERN SLUMP Staff vaccination rates are especially low in some Southern

states. Alongside Florida and Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma also reported staff vaccination rates lower than 45 percent. Missouri was the only other state to report a staff

vaccination rate lower than 45 percent. Resident vaccination rates are also lower than the national average in those states, with only 68, 70 and 74 percent of nursing home residents fully

vaccinated in Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma, respectively. In Tennessee, 47 percent of workers and 74 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. In South Carolina, 49 percent of workers and

74 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. This low vaccine uptake across the board leaves nursing home residents highly vulnerable to a resurgence of the virus, experts warn. "Staff

that aren't vaccinated and protected, they remain a very direct route by which the virus can enter the building,” says Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at the

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.