Nearly 51% of fully vaccinated nursing home residents have received a booster shot, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The ratio of residents who have received an additional booster dose jumped to 50.9% by Dec. 5 — a high compared to previous weeks. The figure was at 48.1% during the week of Nov. 28, and at 44.2% during the week of Nov. 21.
The numbers are much lower for nursing home staffers, the CDC data shows. Just 21.8% of fully vaccinated nursing home workers had received an additional booster dose as of Dec. 5. That figure has also steadily improved over recent weeks, up from 19.4% reporting an additional dose during the week of Nov. 21.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday released facility-level data that now shows the percentage of staff members at each certified facility that have received booster shots.
“More nursing home residents will become eligible in the weeks ahead and continue to drive this number up. To increase coverage, we are working to ensure easy access to boosters,” Cyrus Shahpar, the White House COVID-19 data director, said on Twitter Thursday. COVID-19 booster data is not mandatory for providers to report.
“We expect nursing home booster numbers to continue to rise in the days ahead, which is critical for protection against both the Delta and Omicron variants,” he added.
