Still no mandate, but Pennsylvania wants 80 percent of SNF workers vaccinated by October

Although Pennsylvania has not mandated COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare workers, the state’s public health officials announced Thursday a goal to have at least 80% of the skilled nursing facility staff in the state vaccinated by Oct. 1.

“Getting 80 percent of nursing home staff vaccinated is aggressive, but achievable,” Department of Health Executive Deputy Secretary Keara Klinepeter stated. “As we have seen over the past 17 months, COVID-19 kills. Getting vaccinated is the most effective measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the health of residents, staff and the community.”

SNFs that do not meet that expectation by the deadline will be required to have more frequent testing for unvaccinated employees. Testing would be at the facility’s expense, and appropriate regulatory action will be taken if the facilities are not compliant with testing requirements. 

“Currently in Pennsylvania, only 12.5% of facilities have a vaccination rate of 80% or greater. This is embarrassing and, quite frankly, very frightening to residents and their loved ones,” Klinepeter said.