Calls grow for care home staff to get mandatory jabs

As coronavirus cases climb again in the United States, calls are growing for vaccinations to be made mandatory for nursing-home caregivers to protect the group that has suffered the most deaths in the pandemic.

Overall, vaccination rates are lower among nursing home workers than with the residents. Nationwide, around 81 percent among residents have been vaccinated and 60 percent among staff as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In Florida, a recent coronavirus outbreak at the Life Care Center of Palm Bay resulted in 34 residents and 17 staff members testing positive, The Wall Street Journal reported. Visits and group activities were suspended during the outbreak.

In Texas, where a vaccination rate of 56 percent for nursing home staff lags the national average, the number of centers with at least one active COVID-19 case has shot up nearly 800 percent over the past month, the Texas Tribune reported.

From mid-July to Aug 11, the number of nursing homes with active cases soared from 56 to 489 across the southern state. The number of deaths jumped from seven to 84.Only 76 percent of nursing home residents have been fully vaccinated.

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 186,000 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Globally, as of Monday afternoon, about 207.1 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, including 4.36 million deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

The American Association of Retired Persons has called for mandatory vaccines for nursing home caregivers to protect those most at risk in the pandemic.

National disgrace

"The high COVID death rates of residents and staff in nursing homes have been a national disgrace," Nancy LeaMond, the group's executive vice-president, said in a statement last week.

"As the new variants are emerging, facilities cannot let preventable problems be repeated. The key is to increase vaccinations, and do it now."

Some local governments and companies have adopted vaccine mandates recently as cases surge.

However, such vaccine mandates are facing resistance. In California, health workers have staged protests, calling the mandates a violation of people's constitutional rights.

Nikki Strong, executive director of Missouri Health Care Association, which represents more than 65 percent of Missouri's licensed nursing care facilities, told Missouri newspaper the Joplin Globe that she is afraid the mandates may drive away workers who are already in short supply across the country.

In June, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living surveyed 616 nursing homes and 122 assisted-living communities across the US on their workforce issues. It found that close to three-fourths of nursing homes and more than half of assisted-living communities face more staffing challenges this year than in 2020.