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COVID case, death and vaccination rates improve at Florida nursing homes, AARP reports

News-Journal - 12/22/2021

All seven COVID-19 metrics used to evaluate how the virus impacts Florida nursing homes improved during a four-week period in October and November, according to AARP's latest dashboard update.

Vaccination rates among residents and staff also improved, the update showed.

AARP's COVID-19 dashboard now includes data on booster shots for nursing home residents and staff members.

Boosters: Do COVID-19 boosters protect against omicron? Where and when can I get a booster in Florida?

AARP Florida State Director Jeff Johnson said in a press release that the metrics are promising considering the addition of the omicron variant in Florida this month.

"In this new report, Florida continues to see decreasing trends of coronavirus cases and deaths in our state's nursing homes," Johnson said in the release. "Additionally, Florida's vaccination of nursing home workers increased to nearly 64% since last month's report."

Using data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — which is self-reported by nursing homes — the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard to provide four-week snapshots of the virus' impact on nursing home residents and staff.

The federal data does not include coronavirus cases among residents or staff of assisted-living facilities, group homes and other congregate elder-care facilities.

Last month's report: COVID cases, deaths and vaccination rates improving at Florida nursing homes, AARP reported

From Oct. 18 to Nov. 21, the latest figures analyzed by AARP, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among Florida nursing home residents and staff once again declined from the previous reporting period.

COVID-19 cases among Florida nursing home residents decreased from roughly 1 case per 100 residents to 0.4 cases per 100 residents, according to AARP.

Cases among staff members dropped from 1.2 per 100 to 0.3 per 100.

Florida reported 52 new nursing home resident COVID-19 deaths, down from 92 deaths in the previous month's report.

New nursing home resident deaths in Florida represent 3.4% of the 1,526 total COVID-19 deaths occurring in U.S. nursing homes during this reporting period.

The number of Florida nursing homes reporting staff shortages also decreased from 22% to 20% during this period, according to the report.

The number of nursing homes in need of personal protective equipment remained at 3.4%, the report showed.

Approximately 32%, or 224, of Florida's nearly 700 nursing homes have met the industry standard and vaccinated at least 75% of their staff. That's a 10% increase since last month's report.

Florida now ranks fifth-worst in the nation for staff vaccination rates with 63.4% of staff fully vaccinated against the virus. The national average is 77.6%.

And Florida continues to rank third-worst in the nation for resident vaccinations at 78.3%. The national average is 86.6%.

"Let's finish the fight against COVID-19. It's essential that we get booster shots into the arms of our most vulnerable residents and the workers that care for them," Johnson said in the press release. "AARP Florida continues to be a trusted voice for information about vaccines."

Just 9% of staff and 23.8% of residents have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, according to the report. The national average is 15% and 38.4%, respectively.

"It's clear that our state has more work to do to ensure that nursing home residents and staff have access to booster shots," Johnson said in the press release. "Florida ranks third-worst in the nation with only 24% of residents receiving boosters — well behind the national average of 39%. Nursing home staff receiving booster shots is even lower, at 9%, which is in the bottom third when compared across states."

Nikki Ross covers K-12 education, health and COVID-19 for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. She can be reached at nikki.ross@news-jrnl.com or follow her on Twitter @nikkiinreallife.

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