The Pennsylvania Department of Health has set a new vaccination goal for skilled nursing facilities.These facilities are asked to have at least 80% of staff members vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1, officials announced Thursday. “Currently in Pennsylvania, only 12.5% of facilities have a vaccination rate of 80% or greater. This is embarrassing and, quite frankly, very frightening to residents and their loved ones,” Department of Health Executive Deputy Secretary Keara Klinepeter said.Officials said nursing homes that don’t meet the 80% expectation by the deadline will be required to have more frequent testing for unvaccinated employees. Testing would be at the facility’s expense.Appropriate regulatory action will be taken if the facilities are not compliant with testing requirements, officials said.The health department also announced a new skilled nursing facility vaccine dashboard with self-reported vaccination data that is submitted weekly to the federal government. The dashboard is available on www.health.pa.gov.
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. —
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has set a new vaccination goal for skilled nursing facilities.
These facilities are asked to have at least 80% of staff members vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1, officials announced Thursday.
“Currently in Pennsylvania, only 12.5% of facilities have a vaccination rate of 80% or greater. This is embarrassing and, quite frankly, very frightening to residents and their loved ones,” Department of Health Executive Deputy Secretary Keara Klinepeter said.
Officials said nursing homes that don’t meet the 80% expectation by the deadline will be required to have more frequent testing for unvaccinated employees. Testing would be at the facility’s expense.
Appropriate regulatory action will be taken if the facilities are not compliant with testing requirements, officials said.
The health department also announced a new skilled nursing facility vaccine dashboard with self-reported vaccination data that is submitted weekly to the federal government. The dashboard is available on www.health.pa.gov.