Despite health officials urging Americans to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, distribution issues have affected the rollout process for many, including vulnerable residents at nursing homes.
"The distribution of the new COVID-19 vaccine is not going well," said Chad Worz, PharmD, CEO of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists told The New York Times Sept 27. "Older adults in those settings are certainly the most vulnerable and should have been prioritized."
It could be October or possibly November before many nursing homes begin administering the new COVID-19 shot, even though cases among this age group are already rising, the Times reported.
The CDC has recommended seniors get all three vaccines this fall to ensure the most protection from COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. However, convincing them to take the vaccines once nursing homes do have the supply is another challenge, experts told the Times.
"Now that the public health emergency has ended, I think people are done with it," Sheena Bumpas, a nursing assistant and the vice chair of the National Association of Health Care Assistants told the Times.
To complicate the rollout further, the COVID-19 vaccine and new RSV shot must be handled separately. Administratively for nursing homes to be reimbursed for this, the COVID-19 vaccine must be billed to Medicare Part B while the RSV vaccine has to be billed to Part D.
To date, 62 percent of seniors in the U.S. are up-to-date with the latest COVID-19 vaccine, but a new survey found that only 40 percent of Americans in general are planning to get the newest jab.