Health Care Roundup: Nursing Home COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates, Anti-Vax Anti-Protest Bill & More

Nursing Home Staffing Worries Hinder COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates in KY:

In late July and early August, the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities & Kentucky Center for Assisted Living conducted a survey of 283 skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, and personal care homes, asking if they would support a COVID-19 vaccination mandate if all other providers did the same.

Of the 103 facility administrators who responded to that query, 42 percent said yes, 42 percent said no. The remaining 16 percent said they either didn’t feel comfortable answering the question or their facility had already instituted a vaccine mandate.

The administrators’ biggest worry was maintaining proper staffing levels if a vaccine mandate was imposed.

“I think we would lose the majority of our staff,” one administrator indicated. “We only have 46% that are vaccinated and the rest adamantly refuse.” (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER)

WA Gov. Orders Healthcare Workers to Get COVID-19 Vaccinations:

Citing a surge in COVID-19 infections among unvaccinated residents, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued an executive order last week requiring most state employees, as well as about 400,000 private-sector health care workers, including those at nursing homes and residential treatment facilities, to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18 or risk losing their jobs. Some major medical employers in the state, including Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and Swedish Health Services, had already announced they would be requiring their employees to get vaccinated. (SEATTLE TIMES) 

CT Gov. Orders Long-Term Care Workers to Get Vaccinated:

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced on Aug. 6 that staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities would have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 7 or their workplaces would be subject to a fine of $20,000 per day. The governor cited a “significant increase of COVID-19 in nursing homes among staff and residents” in recent weeks. (CONNECTICUT MIRROR)

MO Nursing Home Staff COVID-19 Vaccination Rate Third Lowest in Nation:

Only about 47 percent of staff at Missouri nursing homes have been vaccinated for COVID-19. Just two states, Florida and Louisiana, have lower nursing home staff have lower vaccination rates. (MISSOURI INDEPENDENT)

CA Bill Targets Anti-Vax Protests:

A fast-moving bill (SB 742) in California’s Legislature would make it a crime, punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine, to harass or obstruct someone going to a vaccination site. The bill was introduced in mid-February, shortly after a mass vaccination center at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium was briefly shut down by protesters. (LOS ANGELES TIMES, STATE NET)

National Academies Drug Waste Report Influenced by Big Pharma?

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has collected at least $10 million from major pharmaceutical companies since 2015, according to treasurer reports. Some physicians regarded a February report on drug waste from the provider of “independent, objective” policy advice to be Pharma-friendly, advising against an effort to recoup millions of dollars from drugmakers for discarded drugs and recommending that Medicare stop tracking the cost of drug waste entirely. (KAISER HEALTH NEWS)

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK