Greetings!

This message includes:
  • news about the approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine;
  • details of the letter AHCA/NCAL sent to HHS and CMS with solutions to support providers in implementing a vaccine mandate; and
  • information about an IRS tax credit program for certain employers who award sick time for their employees to receive or recover from a COVID-19 vaccine.
 
Sincerely,

April Payne, MBA, LNHA
Chief Quality & Regulatory Affairs Officer
Executive Director of VCAL
Virginia Health Care Association | Virginia Center for Assisted Living 
Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Receives FDA Full Approval

​​​​​​​The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.

According to the FDA's announcement, the vaccine will “now be marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.”

Today’s approval means that this vaccine meets the highest safety and efficacy standards and is a big step in the fight against COVID-19. 

Long term care providers have been working tirelessly over the past 18 months to protect staff and highly vulnerable residents. AHCA/NCAL undertook the #GetVaccinated campaign earlier this year to encourage staff and residents to get one of the three available vaccines. Today’s announcement should provide additional reassurance that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective.

For more information on this as well as the recently announced booster shot plan​, please see COVID-19 Vaccine: Boosters vs. Additional Doses for Immunocompromised​. ​​​
AHCA/NCAL Urges Biden Administration to Consider Implications of Vaccination Policy
 
Following an announcement from President Biden that all nursing home staff will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in a forthcoming regulation, AHCA/NCAL warned about the potential impact on the profession’s already challenging workforce situation. Industry leaders are deeply concerned that it may cause a mass exodus from the nursing home profession, leaving frail seniors without the caregivers and access to care they need. 

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CMS should use a thoughtful approach in developing the policy—one that focuses on retaining current staff members. AHCA/NCAL sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, encouraging the administration to strengthen the policy by including all health care settings and provide resources to support providers in their efforts. In the letter, AHCA/NCAL offers key solutions for federal officials to ensure success:  

  1. ​​The president’s order should include a vaccine mandate for all health care workers in all Medicare and Medicaid certified settings. This is the only way to prevent nursing facility employees from leaving to work in other settings such as hospitals or home health.
  2. More education must take place to provide information to vaccine hesitant staff. AHCA/NCAL worked with the CDC on a digital media campaign that targeted facilities and we had success in increasing vaccination rates. Individuals who saw the advertising reported they were more likely to get vaccinated after watching or reading the ads. Unfortunately, there was only $1 million allocated for that campaign, and we quickly exhausted the funds. AHCA/NCAL is asking the Administration, either with AHCA/NCAL or on its own, dedicate $25 million to restart and expand this effort.
  3. There should be a federally funded daily testing alternative for staff that won’t take the vaccine. This will give the education efforts time to work and prevent a sudden departure of large numbers of staff. AHCA/NCAL would support this option being time limited. Currently 16 states and the District of Columbia have implemented vaccine mandates for some or all health care workers. Of these, eight (Delaware, D.C, Hawaii, Maryland, Mississippi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island) include regular testing for unvaccinated staff as a provision of their mandate.
  4. Providers will incur significant expense in agency staff once this policy goes into effect. AHCA/NCAL encourages the administration to set aside $3 billion from the Provider Relief Fund to cover the cost of implementing this program including use of agency staff, recruiting replacement staff as well as the cost of testing staff. This could either be in the form of a direct payment on a per bed basis at the start of the program, or an application process with funds set aside to cover these costs.
  5. AHCA/NCAL continues to urge HRSA to open the portal for the additional Provider Relief Funds, both in the general fund and the rural fund. The sector is in crisis and the time to open these funds is now.
  6. CMS should modify its visitation guidance to allow providers to ask visitors about their vaccination and test results and require vaccination or negative tests prior to visits. This should also apply to federal and state survey inspectors and ombudsman.

Nursing home providers are committed to increasing vaccination rates but can’t do it alone. COVID-19 has exacerbated long-standing workforce challenges in nursing homes, and a vaccine mandate focused solely on this sector would push too many caregivers out of their jobs and facilities to their breaking point. Our nation’s most vulnerable deserve full protection from the virus, but they also deserve access to the long term care they need. Federal officials must take a comprehensive and supportive approach.
ARP Vaccination Tax Credit Program Toolkit

A refundable tax credit program is available for small to midsize companies with less than 500 employees through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. This program reimburses employers who award sick time to their employees to receive or recover from COVID-19 vaccinations.

This is another available option to help with vaccination rates at no cost to employers.

Eligibility Criteria
Tax credits are available to eligible employers that pay sick and family leave for time off between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. It can be used for both one-dose and two-dose vaccinations. However, arrangement for the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccinations is preferred due to no three week wait for the second dose and the sun-setting of this program on September 30.

Toolkit Overview
The Iowa Health Care Association-Iowa Center for Assisted Living (IHCA/ICAL), with help from Brighton Consulting Group, has created a toolkit of resources. IHCA/ICAL has made its toolkit available to providers in other states. Included on the toolkit webpage are a short video explaining the program and resources available, as well as links to sample documents and resources to assist members with the submission process.
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