Nursing homes start receiving vaccine; Aurora tosses 500 doses
56,800 doses assigned to inoculate residents and staff in the state
Nine nursing homes in Wisconsin were the first in the state Monday to receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as part of a nationwide effort to inoculate one of the populations hardest hit by the novel coronavirus.
Wisconsin set aside part of its Moderna vaccine allocation, about 56,800 doses, to inoculate residents and staff of the state’s roughly 350 nursing homes, according to Gov. Tony Evers’ office.
Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens began sending pharmacists and other personnel to Wisconsin nursing homes to give initial doses of the recently authorized Moderna vaccine to residents and staff.
“We’re very relieved, excited, thankful,” said Carla Durst, infection preventionist at New Glarus Home, a nursing home that received initial doses of the vaccine Monday. “I’ve been telling my family since October that what I wanted for Christmas was a vaccine.”
Also Monday, Advocate Aurora Health officials acknowledged that clinicians had to discard around 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine over the weekend after 50 vials were left unrefrigerated for too long at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton. Each vial contained 10 doses of vaccine.
In a statement, officials said someone removed the vials from a refrigerator to access other items and failed to put them back overnight Friday. An internal investigation found the failure was an “unintended human error.”
Clinicians were still able to administer some doses within the allowable 12-hour post-refrigeration window but had to discard most of it, officials said. Once the vaccine is thawed, it cannot be refrozen.
“We are clearly disappointed and regret this
happened,” officials said in a statement.
Advocate Aurora Health has vaccinated about 17,000 of its employees in the last 12 days, according to the statement. As of Sunday night, a total of 39,501 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Health care workers and nursing home residents are first in line to receive vaccines. Elizabeth Goodsitt, spokesperson for DHS, said 42 nursing homes in the state were on track to start vaccinations by the end of the week, she said.
Evergreen Health Center in Oshkosh, Markesan Resident Home and the New Glarus Home were among the nine that started Monday, said John Sauer, president and CEO of LeadingAge Wisconsin, a statewide association of long-term care providers.
Walgreens pharmacists were in the chapel of the New Glarus nursing home from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday giving the vaccine to staff and residents who had consented to it, Durst said.
Patty Emberson, director of nursing at New Glarus Home, said she was “overwhelmed” by the response of the residents, with 70 of 74 consenting to the vaccine either on their own or through a family member or legal representative capable of consenting for them.
About 60% of the home’s 120 employees said they definitely wanted the vaccine, she said.
“Seventy-four of our staff was, ‘Absolutely, I want it, and I want it the first day that I can get it,’” she said. “We were very happy with our numbers.”
DHS, Walgreens and CVS did not disclose which other nursing homes conducted vaccinations Monday. State health officials have said they hope to have most nursing home residents and staff vaccinated by the end of January.
Nursing homes have been at the center of deadly outbreaks of the coronavirus. In Wisconsin, nursing home residents make up a small percentage of COVID-19 cases, but at least 27% of deaths.
Wisconsin nursing homes reported a total 1,265 residents died with COVID-19 through Dec. 13, according to the latest data. That number is an undercount because the federal government only required reporting beginning in May.
About three quarters of those deaths — 958 residents — died in the eight weeks between Oct. 19 and Dec. 13.
Markesan Resident Home, about 30 miles west of Fond du Lac, was initially supposed to get the vaccine in late January, said administrator Jennifer Sauer.
She was delighted when CVS called last week to say it would be there to give the vaccine on Monday.
“To suddenly get it a whole month ahead,” said Jennifer Sauer, no known relation to John Sauer. “It was certainly worth getting it here and letting the residents get the vaccination a month earlier than we thought.”
All but seven of the nursing home’s 29 residents agreed to get the vaccine, she said.
The Moderna vaccine requires two doses given about 28 days apart to be fully effective.
The pharmacy chains will make three visits to each nursing home to administer first and second doses.
CVS began vaccinations at longterm care facilities in 12 states last week, according to a press release. It planned to begin vaccinations in 36 more states, including Wisconsin, this week, the press release said.
It is slated to offer vaccinations at 1,829 nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Wisconsin over the ensuing months, according to the press release.
The state has not yet cleared the path for assisted living facilities in the state to receive doses of the vaccine. There are an estimated 67,000 residents in assisted living facilities in Wisconsin, John Sauer said.