covid-19 coronavirus booster vaccination needle

A Connecticut nursing home has weathered a COVID-19 outbreak that sickened 89 residents and staff and killed eight residents, the facility operator reports.

The outbreak at Geer Village Senior Community’s nursing facility began just before federal health agencies authorized COVID-19 booster shots for seniors and vulnerable individuals in late September, CEO Kevin O’Connell told ABC News.

Cases were often breakthrough infections, as many residents and staff were fully vaccinated. The residents who died had serious underlying health issues, the long-term care provider reported. At the time of an update posted Friday, Nov. 12, 69 staff and residents had recovered from the disease and were coming out of isolation, it told residents, family members and staff.

Administrators asked the facility’s pharmacy contact for access to booster vaccine as soon as they learned that residents would be eligible for the shots, O’Connell emphasized. But the complicated logistics of coordinating administration to all staff and residents, plus other pandemic concerns, have made for slow scheduling, he told the news outlet. 

And now the facility’s booster vaccine effort is on hold until all remaining COVID-19 cases wane. 

“We’re following the guidance of the Department of Health,” O’Connell said, “and they do not recommend providing boosters to anybody with active infections for 14 days after the outbreak.”

Keeping vaccination coverage strong

With COVID-19 protection waning for U.S. nursing home residents who were vaccinated early in the year, the specter of breakthrough cases and outbreaks looms. COVID-19 cases in U.S. nursing homes are down for residents and staff, yet resident deaths due to the disease have remained steady at 2,000 per month in September and October, according to an AARP analysis of federal data.

Some observers are skeptical about the ability of the industry as a whole to continue to provide a high level of vaccine coverage — including ongoing booster shots — in the absence of a coordinated vaccination plan or a program such as the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care that ended earlier this year.

In the meantime, Geer Village Senior Community has reassured residents and families that it is taking every precaution to protect the health of everyone in its nursing facility. It also provides access to monoclonal antibody treatment for qualified residents who contract COVID-19. “If your loved one is sick, we will discuss the treatment options with you and their physician,” it stated in its update.

The Northeastern United States has had relatively high levels of COVID-19 vaccination. Nonetheless (and Connecticut has been an exception), two-week case counts are up across New England, according to NBC News. Cases among pockets of unvaccinated residents have driven the surge, a public health expert told the news outlet.