Lamont to require booster shots for nursing home workers

Jan. 6—Gov. Ned Lamont announced his intention Thursday to issue an executive order for all nursing home workers to be fully vaccinated — including a booster shot — by Feb. 11.

The announcement comes the same day that the state Department of Public Health updated its guidance to ask nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients who are discharged by hospitals.

Although not affected by the executive order, Connecticut's hospitals also are mandating that their workers get boosters.

Connecticut is in the midst of a statewide coronavirus surge; about 90% of new cases are a result of the omicron variant. According to the state's daily summary, 8,823 positive tests were found out of 38,674, making for an almost 23% infection rate. There have been 121 deaths in the state since last week. New London County currently has a reported 105 hospitalizations.

During a Thursday news conference, Lamont said not enough health care workers in nursing homes are boosted — currently only 31% have gotten a booster shot. For hospitals, it's 35% to 50%, Griffin Hospital President Patrick Charmel said.

"Nursing homes as you remember were particularly hard hit a year and a half ago, suffering real fatalities, and we can't let that happen again," Lamont said. "Almost all of our residents are vaccinated, the vast majority are boosted, almost all of our nurses are vaccinated, but not that many of them are boosted."

Lamont said having all of the workers boosted will "pay dramatic dividends."

"That will open up capacity in our hospitals, make it easier for us to transfer people from hospitals to nursings homes and allow us to get back to normal hours in nursing homes," he said.

State Department of Social Services Deidre Gifford elaborated on the governor's executive order, saying it will "require a booster for staff and contractors in long-term care facilities that have any kind of significant resident contact. That includes not only our nursing facilities but also managed residential communities, our residential care homes, our intermediate care facilities and our chronic disease hospitals."

The state will not be offering a regular testing option as an alternative to getting a booster shot.

"The reason why we're taking this step is we really have started to see an uptick in our cases in both staff and residents of long-term care facilities," Gifford said.

Charmel said the booster mandate will take about 45 days to implement for hospitals and that it applies to all hospital employees.

"We stand with the Connecticut Hospital Association and other groups in endorsing this requirement," Hartford HealthCare President and CEO Jeffrey A. Flaks said in an emailed statement Thursday night. He said HHC soon will announce plans to provide booster doses for employees who have not yet had them. The health network includes Backus Hospital in Norwich and Windham Hospital.

s.spinella@theday.com

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