New York and Feds Announce COVID-19 Vaccination Plans

Health care workers and high-risk populations are prioritized for COVID-19 vaccine distribution under both New York State and federal vaccine distribution plans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that it is partnering with CVS and Walgreens to offer on-site COVID-19 vaccination services for residents and staff of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. New York State has released a draft plan for vaccination administration that would offer long-term care facility workers and residents vaccines in the first phase of distribution.

The CDC program, entitled the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, is targeted at nursing home and assisted living residents, but facility staff who have not already received the vaccine can also be vaccinated as part of this program. The CDC is asking nursing homes and assisted living facilities to sign up (or opt out) within the next two weeks. Nursing homes may make their selection through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) here, and assisted living facilities may make their selection here. Facilities will be asked which pharmacy partner they prefer. Facilities may change their decision to participate and opt in or out via email after the online survey closes. The program will provide the vaccines, on-site vaccination of residents, and end-to-end management of the COVID-19 vaccination process, including storage, handling, cold chain management, and fulfillment of reporting requirements, at no cost to the facility. More information is available here and here. For more information, contact the program here.

On a parallel track, New York State has released a draft COVID-19 Vaccination Administration Program that will serve as an initial framework for the distribution of the vaccine in New York, once the federal government makes it available. New York's draft plan acknowledges that many key factors remain unknown at this time, and the plan is subject to change. Under the State's plan, long-term care facility workers who interact with residents and at-risk long-term care facility residents are targeted for the first phase of distribution.

LeadingAge NY and other associations will be meeting with the Department of Health (DOH) this week to learn more about the interplay between the state and federal plans.

Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8838