Federal data shows 82% of nursing home residents are vaccinated compared to 60% of staff.
Of the more than 15,000 nursing homes across the country, just 36 have a 100% resident and staff vaccination rate, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.
Only one Central Florida facility is in that small group: The Lodge Health and Rehabilitation Center in Ocala.
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It’s a major accomplishment for them, but it’s a major wake-up call for all the others as the coronavirus once again creeps into those facilities.
The AARP in Florida said only 45% of nursing home staff in Florida have been vaccinated, putting the state at second for the lowest nursing home COVID-19 vaccination rate in the nation.
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that all nursing homes must require their staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine or they will lose their federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.
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“This is definitely a dramatic policy,” said Brian Lee, executive director of Families for Better Care, a national nursing home resident advocacy group. “I’m definitely a proponent of folks (being) vaccinated. I’m just not the strongest proponent of forced vaccinations (in) people’s arms.”
He said he would have liked to see a different approach, maybe offering staff incentives like bonuses.
Jeff Johnson, state director for AARP Florida said he thinks “it is time just for the safety and residents to go ahead and push for this mandate.”
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Dr. Lindsay Peterson with the University of South Florida’s Institute of Aging said she anticipated this would come.
”These are people who are dealing with real-life individuals who are more vulnerable now than ever, possibly with this delta variant.”
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