NHSN to Update Surveillance Definition of “Up to Date”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will change the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) surveillance definition of “up to date” for reporting weeks beginning on Sept. 25, 2023, to align with the new recommendations for COVID vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted on Sept. 11, 2023 to approve and to authorize for emergency use updated COVID vaccines that more closely target the currently circulating variants than the prior vaccines.

The updated vaccines were approved for individuals age 12 and older and were authorized for emergency use among children age 6 months through age 11. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted in favor of such use on Sept. 12, 2023.

Once the new vaccine and new vaccination recommendations are applied to NHSN surveillance data collection, the percentage of long term care residents and health care personnel who are reported as up to date for the COVID vaccine may change. (Note that this does not change anything about requirements for initial shots and boosters; it changes only the definition of “up to date” for reporting purposes starting on Sept. 25, 2023.) The CDC is providing a webinar along with several rebroadcasts for long term care facilities to discuss these anticipated changes on Sept. 22, 2023 at 2 p.m.; Sept. 25, 2023 at 1 p.m.; and Oct. 2, 2023 at 1 p.m. Registration links for all sessions are available here.

Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841