CDC urges nursing home vaccinations

 The Big Story 

It’s the height of respiratory virus season, but some of the country’s most vulnerable people remain at risk. 

© Getty

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most nursing home residents haven’t received an updated COVID-19 vaccine or the new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine.

COVID-19, influenza and RSV activity are still below levels seen last year at this time, according to the CDC. But only 35 percent of nursing home residents have gotten the updated COVID-19 vaccine, and just 10 percent had received an RSV shot.  

RSV can cause severe illness and death in older adults. The Food and Drug Administration estimated that the virus hospitalizes 60,000 to 160,000 people over age 65 each year and causes 6,000 to 10,000 deaths. 

This is the first year there’s been a vaccine available to prevent RSV– and there are two on the market. Arexvy, the shot from GlaxoSmithKline, was 94 percent effective against severe illness in older adults. Pfizer’s shot, called Abrysvo, was 86 percent effective against severe illness.

Both shots are fully covered by Medicaid, Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, and most private insurance plans.

Nursing homes are encouraged to collaborate with state, local and federal public health and long-term care pharmacy partners to address barriers contributing to low vaccination coverage, CDC said. 

Vaccine fatigue, inaccurate health information and vaccine hesitancy contribute to lack of vaccine demand, the CDC said.

For the COVID-19 vaccine, lower uptake might be related to challenges to vaccine access, as well as cost and payment barriers associated with the vaccine’s commercialization, the agency said.

Older people are also receiving messaging for multiple seasonal vaccines (in many cases three or four), and it can be overwhelming. The relative newness of the RSV shots may also confuse providers, who then give inaccurate information to their patients.

Another possible barrier is the CDC’s recommendation of “shared decisionmaking.” That means the vaccine was recommended only after a conversation between a patient and their provider, rather than a blanket recommendation like the one for flu shots.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Essential Reads 

How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

CDC: No clear relationship between antivirals and COVID ‘rebound’ infection

FDA approves first ever DNA test to help screen for risk of opioid use disorder

Top Biden officials meet with Black, public health leaders following menthol ban delay

In Other News 

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Pharmacist refused emergency contraception prescription. Court to decide if that was discrimination

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys for a woman who was denied emergency contraception in 2019 told the Minnesota Court of Appeals Thursday that the pharmacist who refused to fill the prescription discriminated against her on the basis of her sex. But an attorney for George Badeaux, the pharmacist at Thrifty White in central Minnesota, said his …

Full Story

Around the Nation 

Local and state headlines on health care:

• Almost 57,000 Idaho kids have lost Medicaid. Federal regulators are worried (Idaho Capital Sun)

• Texas Medical Board remains silent on abortion laws, despite calls for more guidance (Texas Tribune)

• A broken immigration system keeps workers out of jobs the U.S. needs to fill (Washington Post)

What We’re Reading 

Health news we’ve flagged from other outlets:

• Flesh-rotting ‘tranq’ undermines fight against fentanyl (Wall Street Journal)

• Medical marijuana companies are using pharma’s sales tactics with little of the same scrutiny (Stat)

• Some Mexican pharmacies are selling full bottles of Adderall. But it’s actually meth. (Los Angeles Times)

What Others are Reading 

Most read stories on The Hill right now:

Ex-White House lawyer says Supreme Court could rule ‘9-0’ in possible Trump 14th Amendment case

Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb predicted Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court could rule “9-0” in favor of former President Trump in … Read more

Jordan expands probe into Smith’s handling of Trump cases

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) expanded his probe into special counsel Jack Smith, asking him to turn over all documents and records related … Read more

What People Think 

Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill:

• The invisible enemy in Ukraine? Superbugs  

• Private equity is buying up health care, but the real problem is why doctors are selling