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COVID-19
The Associated Press

Report: Many U.S. nursing home staff decline first COVID shots

A man uses a needle to administer a vaccine.
Pharmacy intern Joseph Ahenkorah administers a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to Cari Giroir, a licensed practical nurse, at the Gardens of Episcopal Homes in St. Paul on Dec. 30, 2020
Christine T. Nguyen | MPR News 2020

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A little more than a third of nursing home workers have been getting COVID-19 vaccines when the shots are first offered, U.S. health officials said Monday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave a national accounting of a problem that's been reported anecdotally — many nursing home workers are not getting the shots.

The CDC looked at more than 11,000 nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities that had at least one vaccination clinic between the middle of December and the middle of January. The researchers found that while 78 percent of residents got at least one shot, only 37.5 percent of staff members did.

Data previously showed that people who work in nursing homes and long-term care facilities get flu vaccines at lower rates than other health care workers. Surveys suggest that long-term care workers are skeptical the shots work and don't think viruses spread easily from them to the people they care for.

The problem was discussed last week during a meeting of an expert panel that advises the CDC on vaccine policy. At the meeting, the CDC’s Dr. Amanda Cohn said more staffers get vaccinated when a second or third clinic is held at a home.

“Continuing to capture those staff who did not accept vaccine early will be really important as we try eliminate outbreaks and protect both staff and residents in long-term care facilities,” Cohn said.

The government tasked CVS and Walgreens with administering the shots to long-term care homes in nearly every state. Each vaccine requires two shots a few weeks apart, and CVS and Walgreens say they have wrapped up first-dose clinics in nursing homes. The chains plan three visits to each location.

The CDC released a second report Monday that offered a larger national look at who has been getting the vaccine.

The CDC study found that of the people who got at least one shot between mid-December and mid-January, 63 percent were women, and 55 percent were age 50 or older. It also found 60 percent were White, 11.5 percent Hispanic, 6 percent Asian, 5 percent Black, 2 percent American Indian/Alaska Native, and most of the others multiracial.

The report echoed previously released data from states.