Most residents in Cambridge’s three nursing homes have not received the latest Covid-19 vaccine, which became available in late August. Officials at two of the nursing homes say they are working to vaccinate more residents, a group that faces increased risk from the virus because of age and poor health.
The most recent figures on nursing home vaccinations, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that none of the residents at Cambridge Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and at Sancta Maria Nursing Facility were “up to date” on the 2024-2025 Covid vaccinations as of the first week in October. At Neville Center nursing home, 30 of the 105 residents were up to date, the weekly CDC report said.
The number of Covid infections among nursing home residents has shrunk since the latest winter peak in December and January, but there are still cases in Cambridge. Seven residents at Cambridge Rehabilitation & Nursing were ill with Covid during two consecutive weeks in August, two of them the first week and five the second week. The total of seven cases amounted to about 9 percent of total residents.
The CDC changed its definition of “up to date” as of Oct. 1 to require receiving the 2024-2025 vaccine, causing vaccination rates to plunge not only in Cambridge but at facilities across Massachusetts and the nation, though vaccinations were already low before the change. The percentage of Massachusetts nursing home residents who were up to date dropped from 32 percent in the last week of September to 13 percent in the first week of October, the agency’s report said. More recent figures, available for the statewide vaccination rate but not for individual facilities, showed the rate slid further, to 12 percent.
National vaccination rates for staff and residents at nursing homes have declined steadily over the past two years. “Driven by a federally supported rollout for residents and mandates for staff, initial vaccination ultimately reached 88 percent of residents and 89 percent of staff by early 2022,” but had dropped to 30 percent of residents and 10 percent of staff by May 2024, the AARP reported in May.
Federal health officials approved the latest vaccine in June to protect against new variants of the Covid virus; it became available in August. “The virus that causes Covid-19, Sars-CoV-2, is always changing and protection from Covid-19 vaccines declines over time. Receiving an updated 2024-2025 Covid-19 vaccine can restore and enhance protection against the virus variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States,” the CDC said in June. The agency has recommended that everyone six months and older get the updated shots.
Vaccine on order
At Neville Center, “we ask new admissions to the facility and our current residents/responsible persons … if they would like to receive the updated 2024-2025 vaccine that was recently made available and if they wish to receive the vaccine, we obtain consent and administer the vaccine,” said Angela Penny, spokesperson for Landmark Management Solutions, the company that manages the nursing home. “The vaccine is not mandated; therefore it … may be declined.”
Penny added that residents may have been vaccinated “in the community” so Neville Center asks for “vaccine history” as well. Neville Center, which is affiliated with the Cambridge city government, Cambridge Health Alliance and the Cambridge Housing Authority, was the only facility in the city that reported any “up to date” vaccinated residents in the first week of October.
An official at Sancta Maria Nursing Facility, where the number of residents who were up to date dropped to zero, said: “We have all of [our vaccine supply] on order and will be giving those over the course of October and November.”
“We’re very vigilant about trying to get consent for all of our residents to be vaccinated and providing education to patients and families. We’re doing everything we can,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
Looking for anomalies
The administrator of Cambridge Rehabilitation & Nursing Center didn’t respond to a telephone message. Earlier, when the administrator was asked why the number of residents up to date with Covid vaccinations had dropped suddenly to zero in the week ending Aug. 11, then rebounded to its previous level of 64 vaccinated residents the next week, the person said, “We do not discuss this with reporters.”
The CDC said it verifies vaccination numbers reported by nursing homes by looking for anomalies such as no change in numbers when the agency changes the definition of “up to date.” The agency said it emails “health care facilities that appear to have reported data errors, such as extremely low or high values for vaccination coverage. For example, CDC reaches out to facilities that report a similar percentage of individuals as up to date, both before and after a change in the definition is implemented … If a facility does not apply the new definition, CDC flags these values, reminds users of the new definition and asks facilities to double-check their data and correct values that were reported in error.”
When the CDC previously changed its definition of “up to date” on Covid vaccinations effective April 1, the number of up-to-date residents at Sancta Maria plunged to 17 from 111, according to weekly CDC reports. The number didn’t change at Neville Center and Cambridge Rehabilitation, and the CDC report said both had passed a quality check.
David Solet contributed to this report
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
