Twenty-three percent of assisted living and other residential care facilities participating in the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care program had begun vaccinating staff members and residents as of Jan. 20, according to information released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The federal agency has begun sharing more detailed information on the federal COVID-19 vaccine rollout in long-term care facilities, adding a page to its COVID-19 vaccine tracker to show the number of long-term care residents and staff members who have been vaccinated through the federal program.
The page provides a state-by-state view, as well as the number of first- and second-dose vaccines administered to residents and staff at participating nursing homes and assisted living communities. As of Jan. 4, a total of 54 jurisdictions had started the program. As of Jan. 20, 23% of assisted living and other residential care facilities (14,423 communities out of approximately 60,000) and 89% of skilled nursing facilities (12,420 out of approximately 14,000) had begun vaccinating staff members and residents.
As of Friday, more than 2 million vaccine doses had been administered in long-term care facilities through the federal program. Of that number, 1.9 million people had received at least one dose — 982,846 residents and 681,559 staff members — and 135,585 individuals had received two doses — 74,106 residents and 59,725 staff.
Texas, California and Florida are leading the field, with at least 15,000 total vaccine doses administered. Wyoming reported fewer than 2,000 doses administered, and Alaska, the District of Columbia and North Dakota each reported fewer than 3,000 doses administered.
West Virginia, Guam, American Samoa, Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands and the Virgin Islands are implementing their own vaccination plans and are not participating in the federal long-term care vaccination program.
The federal government has discussed launching the Retail Pharmacy Partnership, which will include long-term care pharmacies, grocery store chains, and small and large pharmacy chains to increase vaccine access. As of now, the timing of the launch of this program remains unclear.
During a LeadingAge member call on Thursday, Vice President of Housing Policy Linda Couch said the Retail Pharmacy Partnership will operate similar to the way flu clinics operate. Senior living providers, she added, may be able to work with these pharmacy chains to bring vaccine clinics into their communities.
