Nursing homes gearing up for vaccinations
Care facilities in Texas have been hit hard during deadly pandemic
Laura Riggs says there’s no question about whether her 94year-old mother will be getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
She’s ready. They’re both ready.
“Mom wants it. She’s not an anti-vaxxer, that’s for sure,” Riggs said, referring to those who are opposed to vaccinations. “We’re all going to get vaccinated.”
It’s been an arduous year for Riggs’ mother, Freddye Riggs, and other nursing home residents as facilities were locked down and in-person visits prohibited to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
But next week, pharmacy teams will begin fanning out across Texas for one of the most critical phases of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign: inoculating staff and residents at the thousands of long-term-care facilities that span the state.
Nursing homes and state-run living facilities have been especially hard hit by the pandemic, accounting for more than a quarter of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.
Getting vaccines to their residents, many of whom are older, have underlying health conditions and can’t advocate for themselves, will be a huge endeavor.
But it’s an essential step in the path back to a more normal world, many residents and family members say.
“I know they’re trying to bring back some normalcy for the residents with some activities resuming,” Laura Riggs said of Elmcroft of Windcrest, the assistedliving facility on the Northeast Side where her mother lives.
“They’ve brought back in-person dining for some meals with plexiglass dividers on tables, but she’s not a big fan of that because you know they don’t hear very well at that age.”
Laura and her mother are hopeful that as soon as next month, after the vaccinations and as the situation improves, Freddye might be able to safely leave the facility for an outing. And maybe the huge sports fan even could go to a game.
But first, they have to get those vaccines.
Families and care providers are facing a number of uncertainties about the process, including which facilities will get the vaccines first, whether they can pick which vaccine they get and how soon unrestricted visitations can resume.
Resident advocates also worry some providers won’t take the necessary steps to ensure residents participate voluntarily.
“The nursing homes are anxious to get to the finish line, and I think there’s the potential for them to run roughshod over patients’ rights about informed consent in order to get there,” said Brian Lee, a patient advocate at Families for Better Care. “Families need to be aware of this.”
More than two-thirds of the state’s 3,100 long-term-care facilities already have signed up to receive vaccines through a federal partnership with CVS Health and Walgreens.
In some areas, providers will be able to partner with H-E-B and independent pharmacies, state health officials say.
The process will take several
weeks, at least, with the first doses being administered Monday.
Many providers began reaching out to families earlier this month about the vaccines, providing information and seeking to secure consent.
Both of the vaccines that have received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration — made by Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna — had more than 90 percent effective rates in clinical trials, including in adults over 65.
Carmel Dyer, a geriatrician and the director of the UTHealth Consortium on Aging, emphasized the development process was fast but
didn’t cut corners.
She said long-term-care residents should strongly consider taking it; she’s scheduled this month to receive the first of two doses herself.
“This could truly be life-saving for many people,” Dyer said. “The risk-benefit ratio is clearly in the patient or long-term-care resident’s favor.”
Residents at all long-term-care facilities, including assisted-living centers, where residents are more independent, are eligible to receive the first waves of the vaccine.
There are 240,000 nursing home staff and residents in the state, and an estimated 64,000 as
sisted-living residents, not including staff.
Though nursing homes have seen far more deadly outbreaks, staff often overlap or work in close proximity to assisted-living centers, said Carmen Tilton, vice president of public policy at the Texas Assisted Living Association.
Kevin Warren, president and CEO of the Texas Health Care Association, which advocates on behalf of long-term-care providers, said they still are working through a host of logistics and weren’t sure where vaccines would be sent first.
CVS and Walgreens have agreed to make three visits at each participating facility, meaning residents will have two chances to receive both doses of the vaccine.
Consent will need to be given in advance, so the pharmacies know how many doses of the vaccine to take. It’s unclear what will happen for those who miss the window.
The effort likely will be complicated by resistance among some staff members, who may worry about being the first to receive the vaccine, or about potential side effects that could keep them home from work for a day.
Some clinical trial participants experienced mild to moderate side effects, such as fever, headache and fatigue.
Advocates urged residents and their families to reach out to their primary care providers if they have specific concerns about receiving the vaccine.
For educator Laura Riggs, the COVID-19 vaccine can’t come soon enough.
Several of her co-workers just tested positive, dashing any chance of checking her mom out of the Elmcroft of Windcrest facility for Christmas.
Riggs teaches sixth-graders at NEISD’s Ed White Middle School, a hybrid class with both in-person and online students.
“With the COVID surge, I just didn’t feel safe in doing that,” she said of taking her mother out of the facility. “I was concerned I might have it and not know it and give it to her.”
So the next best thing during a pandemic is to log onto Zoom.
“We Zoomed on Thanksgiving Day,” Riggs noted, saying they hoped to Zoom on Christmas Eve as presents were opened.