A COVID-19 vaccination rule for healthcare workers that took full effect after a Supreme Court decision in early 2022 will soon be lifted, the Biden administration announced Monday.
Federal health agencies will start the process of ending vaccine requirements for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid-certified healthcare facilities, among other entities, it said in a statement. There is a definitive endpoint of May 11, meanwhile, for requirements for federal employees, contractors and air travelers, marking the official end of the public health emergency.
CMS to surveyors
CMS immediately followed the White House announcement with a guidance change for nursing home surveyors, stating that it would “soon end the requirement that covered providers and suppliers establish policies and procedures for staff vaccination.”
The agency said it will share more details regarding the requirement’s end when the PHE ends.
17 million workers
The vaccination rule for healthcare workers got pushback when it was announced Nov. 5, 2021. Legal challenges sent it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which voted 5-4 in its favor. It was fully enacted in early 2022 and eventually covered more than an estimated 17 million workers, including most of those whose work had them enter the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News’ Kimberly Marselas reported.
With COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations down by more than 90%, the White House acknowledged that it was time to relax a campaign that it said had saved millions of lives.
A new phase of response
“We have successfully marshaled a response to make historic investments in broadly accessible vaccines, tests and treatments to help us combat COVID-19,” it said in a statement. “While vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces, we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary.”
Nursing home staff uptake
As of the week ending April 23, 88% of nursing home staff had completed a primary vaccination, and 59% had also received an additional primary vaccination or booster shot by the week ending April 16. Uptake has yet to reach these levels, however, since the approval of the first omicron-adapted bivalent booster in August 2022. Only 22% of nursing home staff are reported to be up to date with their recommended COVID-19 vaccines as of April 30.
Follow our coverage of this story in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News and McKnight’s Home Care.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that 22% of nursing home staff were up to date on their recommended vaccines as of April 30, not 12% as previously reported.
