Less than a third of Georgia’s nursing home residents have received the latest COVID-19 vaccination, a statistic that’s troubling health experts who want to prevent the spread of coronavirus among this vulnerable population.
The percentage of nursing home residents who are protected, now at 28% in Georgia, is slightly lower than national trends. In total, 36% of residents were up to date with vaccination against COVID, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There is an urgent need to protect nursing home residents against severe outcomes of respiratory illnesses by increasing vaccination against COVID-19 and flu and discussing RSV vaccination with eligible residents,” said Hannah Reses, an epidemiologist and vaccination expert for the CDC.
At the height of the pandemic, nursing homes became battlegrounds for COVID, as the virus tore through facilities with this high-risk population. But today, encouraging vaccine use among older residents in long-term care facilities has proven to be difficult. Long term care residents and staff are still hesitant to get vaccinated, sometimes due to misinformation surrounding the vaccine, said Devon Barill, a spokesperson for the Georgia Health Care Association and Georgia Center for Assisted Living.
Residents may also feel a diminished urgency to obtain a COVID vaccine, Barill said, given the decreased severity of illness and fewer hospitalizations.
“[We] continue to make every effort to educate and encourage residents and staff to vaccinate. However, we face significant challenges in battling vaccine misinformation, hesitancy, and fatigue that are not unique to the long term care community but are systemic among the U.S. population at large,” Barill said in an emailed statement.
The CDC also recently reported COVID and other viruses were up in Georgia and around the nation, just in time for the holiday season. The good news is cases were not as bad as in previous years.
Then last week, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported that flu activity had reached “very high” levels in the state. The flu report, which ended for the week of Dec. 16, showed the percentage of people going to the doctor for flu-like symptoms reached 7.6% of all doctor visits.
The data is based on the number of people going to the doctor with flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough or sore throat. That means it could include cases of people who are suffering from other viruses: either the flu, or COVID or RSV.
Georgia and eight other states are listed as having a “very high” number of respiratory illnesses, and an additional 14 states are in the “high” category, according to surveillance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the same week.
COVID numbers have also risen in recent weeks but they are not as high as previous years.
Physicians agree the best way to avoid spreading and contracting the flu and COVID is to get vaccinated and stay home if you are sick. Other steps to take to protect yourself from the flu include washing your hands frequently and avoiding contact with people who are sick.
The CDC still says anyone who tests positive for COVID should isolate for at least five days. And for 10 days after testing positive, people should wear a high-quality mask such as a KN95 any time they are around other people.
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