Nursing home staff get vax mandate
Massachusetts is planning to expand the coronavirus vaccine requirement for long-term care providers and home care workers, a month after the state mandated the vax for nursing home employees.
The Executive Office of Health and Human Services under the Gov. Charlie Baker administration plans to require COVID-19 vaccination for all staff at rest homes, assisted living residences, hospice programs, as well as for home care workers providing in-home, direct care services.
The plan to expand the vaccine requirement for caregivers is subject to Public Health Council approval and “is part of the Administration’s continued effort to protect older adults against COVID-19,” the Executive Office of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
Following approval from the Public Health Council, all staff must get vaccinated by Oct. 31.
The requirement would cover 62 rest homes, 268 assisted living residences, 85 hospice programs and up to 100,000 home care workers across the state.
“All personnel at rest homes, ALRs, hospice programs, and home care workers will be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccination by October 31, 2021 unless they qualify for a limited exemption because they have a medical condition that prevents them from receiving vaccination or they object to vaccination based on a sincerely held religious belief,” the Executive Office of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
For rest homes, ALRs and hospice settings, the requirement applies to all individuals employed directly by the provider, as well as contractors who regularly enter the facility.
The vaccination requirement for home care workers applies to people providing in-home, direct care who are employed by an agency that is contracted with the state.
The vax mandate also applies to independent, nonagency-based home care workers contracted with the state.
Massachusetts last month announced the nursing home staff vax mandate as cases spiked in nursing homes amid the more highly contagious delta variant.
After a drop in the infection rate at nursing homes following the initial vaccine rollout, there was a five-fold jump in resident and staff cases and an increase in COVID-19-related resident deaths over the previous 30 days.