COVID-19 booster vaccines

Unlike the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to long-term care providers in late 2020 and early 2021, providers will be on their own to secure access to and administer booster doses, which are expected to be available in approximately a month.

LeadingAge on Monday shared information with members about a call the association had with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about COVID-19 booster shots. The key takeaway: assisted living, independent living, memory care and continuing care retirement and affordable senior housing communities, as well as home- and community-based services and other aging services providers, should start planning now to arrange vaccination clinics and booster shot access.

Providers need to do two things right now to get started: determine the number of doses needed, and contact pharmacy partners to begin discussions about on-site clinics or other options for getting shots in arms. Planning, LeadingAge said, can include activating all of the processes from last winter and spring, including securing consent forms, setting up spaces, communicating with families and staffing clinics.

Following the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices approval of the use of an additional dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services released its plan to roll out those booster shots. HHS said that booster shots will be offered as early as the week of Sept. 20; people will be eligible at the eight-month mark from their second dose. The third dose is expected to increase protection against the potential for waning effectiveness against severe disease, hospitalization and death due to SARS-CoV-2. 

In its announcement, HHS noted that individuals who were fully vaccinated earliest in the vaccination rollout —  including “many healthcare providers, nursing home residents and other seniors” —  likely will be eligible for a booster. HHS also said it would begin efforts to deliver booster shots directly to long-term care facility residents at that time. 

“Clearly, CDC recognized that aging services staff and residents are a top priority,” LeadingAge said in a member communication. “CDC is working with all of us and with pharmacies and jurisdictions’ health departments to plan ahead.”

Although implementing a vaccine program will be based on recommendations from the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC’s ACIP, LeadingAge suggested that aging services providers begin surveying their residents and staff members about their interest in booster shots, as well as to gauge interest in first shots. 

Operators have several options available to arrange access to vaccines for residents and staff, including working with pharmacy partners from the former Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program or from the Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership Program. Providers also can work with state health departments to identify assistance in administering vaccines.

Vaccine access 

In efforts to increase access to vaccinations, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Tuesday announced it is expanding Medicare payments for at-home COVID-19 vaccinations, including second and third doses delivered in assisted living and other congregate living settings. 

Healthcare providers now can receive additional payments for administering vaccines to multiple residents in one home or communal setting. The policy is designed to ensure that at-risk individuals in smaller settings have the same opportunities as others to receive the vaccination, CMS said.

“Today’s actions ensure that everyone has the ability to be vaccinated against COVID-19, including older adults with mobility or transportation challenges and other at-risk individuals,”  CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure siad.