Like nursing home residents, COVID-19 cases among workers have plummeted at a rapid rate since peaking in late December.
Cases among nursing home staff fell 83% between the weeks of Dec. 20 and Feb. 14. In raw numbers, that’s a drop from 28,082 weekly cases to just 4,764, according to a report from Kaiser Health News on Monday.
Weekly cases in nursing home residents fell by 89% during that same time period, while weekly cases among the general public dropped 58%.
The American Health Care Association called the numbers a clear indication that the “the vaccine appears to be having a dramatic effect on reducing cases, which is extremely encouraging.”
Johns Hopkins University infectious disease specialist Morgan Katz, M.D., added that the vaccine “is a huge contributing factor” in the declines among nursing home staffers.
“When the immune system is activated more quickly, the virus is not able to multiply in your body and your respiratory tract,” Katz explained.
“Many nursing homes have already experienced large outbreaks — so there are probably a significant proportion of residents and staff who are already immune,” she added.
It was not clear Monday what effect the Kaiser report might have on the rate of employee vaccinations going forward. Less than three weeks ago, the two largest nursing home associations set a goal of 75% of staff members to be vaccinated by June 30. The actual vaccinated rate was about half that in early February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
