The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel urged that the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine be approved for Emergency Use Authorization on Thursday night, so that it could bring Americans closer to full approval and delivery in a few days.
The federal government and the state of New Jersey have stated that the first dose will be given to first health care workers and nursing home residents. It can make a big difference in the lives of people who have experienced isolation from their loved ones and increased risk of contracting the virus.
Exactly how it will play in New Jersey nursing homes, where more than 7,000 residents have died since COVID-19, is beginning to take shape. The state has released some details of the scheme, such as some nursing homes, industry groups and even pharmacies that will administer the vaccines.
The vaccine will be made available at long-term care facilities through a federal partnership with CVS and Vagrans, officials said.
The Department of Health said it is awaiting confirmation from Operation Operation Dora about the long-term care facilities participating in the Federal Pharmacy Partnership.
The CVSA said it would be ready to carry the Covid-19 vaccines in long-term care facilities in New Jersey and across the country.
“It’s important to remember that we run seasonal flu clinics in these thousands of locations each year, which means our health care professionals – pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurse practitioners – are very familiar with this population,” said CVS spokesman Joseph Goode.
According to the CVS guidelines provided for long-term care facilities, the facility enrolls patients online with CVS in preparation for the delivery date. The facility will then make appointments for patients and ensure that consent forms and insurance information will be collected.
Gode said all 10,000 CVS pharmacy locations have refrigeration and cooling capacity for five candidates for six vaccines, including Moderna.
“Pfizer needs extreme cold, which the company has also pointed out – special shippers using dry ice will be used to transport the vaccine.” “Dry ice can be refilled in our pharmacies after five days, and after five days. After 15 days the vaccines can be refrigerated for another five, meaning we can store them in our pharmacies for 20 days. “
On the day of the vaccine administration, the company’s vaccination teams will take the required doses from storage locations using dry ice, to move to long-term care facilities.
A similar procedure will be performed at a future date for the second dose of the vaccine, and the third date will be for whatever is missed.
She will play at Juniper Communities, which runs nursing homes in Chatham and Williamtown.
CVS will vaccinate 150 Juniper residents and about 150 employees on December 21, said Lynn Katzman, founder and CEO of Juniper.
Juniper will have three dates for vaccine clinics. At first, residents and workers will receive the first dose. The second clinic will be 21 days after the second dose, and the third will vaccinate new residents or staff after 21 days.
Katzman said employees would get the first shot.
“Our feeling is that our residents live with us. They can separate but not the staff. Employees are the biggest risk to residents so we have to vaccinate them first, ”Katzmann said, adding that he hopes all residents and employees can get the first shot on the first day.
He said anyone who comes to the community regularly, including workers such as home office fee teams, physical therapists and private duty assistants, will also receive the vaccines.
Residents living in skilled nursing communities will have to bring these vaccines into their rooms, while others will come to a common room – a 10-foot-by-10-foot room with chairs and a table – where they will build a clinic. Vaccine, he said.
Vagrains said it has also partnered with long-term care facilities to become a vaccine provider, but did not share any specific details on how the delivery will work.
An education camp
It is not clear what will happen if a nursing home resident does not want to be vaccinated. In a recent poll by Pew Research, four out of 10 people said they would definitely or probably not get vaccinated, although half of those in the group said they would consider it once more information became available.
Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are working to educate residents, families and staff about the vaccine and its side effects, hoping to eliminate any reluctance to get vaccinated.
Stuart Shapiro, interim CEO of the Health Care Association of New Jersey, a long-term care industry group, said he believes any skepticism about the vaccine is in the general public, not in nursing home residents and staff.
“My belief is that the nursing home staff is well-informed and I fully expect that most of them will want to take shots for the safety of themselves and their patients.”
Shapiro did not pay attention to what would happen if an employee or a resident refused to be vaccinated or residents of an undisclosed nursing home faced restrictions to protect the general population.
“Even this issue has not been addressed because the goal is taken voluntarily by the staff and residents,” he said, adding that “at this time they have the right to say no.”
Andrew Arons, director of New Jersey Nursing Home Advocates, said facilities are actively working to educate residents and their families about the “many benefits” of vaccination.
“We hope that after consideration, most residents will be inoculated and will soon be able to resume visits and activities that they have lost.”
CARE, which operates 33 facilities in the state, said it is awaiting guidance from state officials on how to implement these complex efforts.
When vaccinations are voluntary, facilities may choose to ban the activities of uninhabited residents to protect their health, said Department of Health spokeswoman Donna Luzner.
That’s not surprising, experts said. The virus has crashed through nursing homes at such a devastating rate that facilities will seek to stem new waves of infection.
If a resident refuses to be vaccinated, it could be a basis for facilitating the resident’s discharge, said Harold Grodberg, a Bayon-based certified elder law attorney.
If a person is in danger of harming themselves or others, they can be discharged from the nursing home, Grodberg said. “I think the nursing facility, to limit their liability, would have no choice but to get a discharge from a patient who refuses to take the covid vaccine.”
Katzman of Juniper said they are educating residents and their families about the vaccine, and so far, no resident has refused to take it.
He said residents are part of a pay generation that undergoes vaccinations for polio and smallpox. “They are not afraid of vaccines. The choices are very clear for adults with chronic conditions. She said.
“If a resident decides they don’t want to be vaccinated, they will have to be isolated until the community becomes immune to the herd,” Katzman said. “They must adhere to stricter infection protocols and continue testing.”
Junip has decided to make vaccination an employment condition, unless there is a medical or legal reason not to vaccinate the employee.
“We believe we are responsible for each other and we think it will provide safety to our residents and other members of our team.” “We will still use the mass prevention infection protocol but we will be included in the community. Seniors who struggle with social isolation are a big deal. “
Side effect ideas?
While the United Kingdom said on Tuesday that people with a “significant history of allergic reactions” should not take the Pfizer vaccine after two people had an “anaphylactoid reaction” a day after receiving the shot, health experts said older adults with weakened immune systems should not worry. Is. And other conditions that respond to vaccines are futile.
Shobha Swaminathan, associate professor and chief investigator for the Moderna vaccine trial at Riders New, said the study of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines included people over the age of 70 and showed them to be “very effective even in the older age group”. Jersey Medical School.
“There are no serious side effects that have been reported so far with these vaccines,” he said.
Craig Palowski, communications director at the Kaiser Family Foundation, called the vaccine safety data “very reassuring.”
“Some minor side effects have been reported, such as sores, fatigue and headaches, especially after the second dose,” Paloski said. “If anything, these side effects were less frequently noted and were less severe in people under 55 and under 55 years of age.”
Swaminathan, who also works as the medical director of infectious disease practice at University Hospital Spital, said no one would force him to take the vaccine he did not want.
“Based on the results of the excellent effectiveness of these vaccines, the risk of death associated with COVID-19 in nursing homes is higher. If my parents were a resident of a nursing home, I would give them.”
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The report includes Susan K., a reporter for NJ Advance Media Statehouse. Livio has contributed.
Karin Price can be reached at Mueller [email protected].
