Early COVID-19 First-Dose Vaccination Coverage Among Residents and Staff Members of Skilled Nursing Facilities Participating in the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program — United States, December 2020–January 2021
Radhika Gharpure, Angela Guo, Courtney Bishnoi, Urvi Patel, David Gifford, Ashley Tippins, Aaron Jaffe, Evan Shulman, Nimalie D. Stone, Elisabeth Mungai, Suparna Bagchi, Jeneita M. Bell, Arjun Srinivasan, Anita Patel, Ruth Link‐Gelles
Abstract
Among 11,460 SNFs with at least one vaccination clinic during the first month of the program (December 18, 2020-January 17, 2021), an estimated median of 77.8% of residents (interquartile range [IQR] = 61.3%- 93.1%) and a median of 37.5% (IQR = 23.2%- 56.8%) of staff members per facility received ≥1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine through the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program. The program achieved moderately high coverage among residents; however, continued development and implementation of focused communication and outreach strategies are needed to improve vaccination coverage among staff members in SNFs and other long-term care settings.