TRENTON, NJ — The start of the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine to people in long-term care facilities has been delayed until next week in New Jersey because the state did not fill its paperwork in time.
The delay was discussed during Gov. Phil Murphy's COVID-19 press briefing on December 21 when a reporter asked the governor and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli if the missed deadline was because long-term care facilities were overwhelmed or if "your workers didn't operate fast enough."
Persichilli said that filing the paperwork proved to be a more complex task than first imagined. "Many of these (long-term care) facilities did not have the information systems technology to support the requirements to get into the program. After receiving the approval of the CDC, the (state health) department undertook the task of uploading their information from all the facilities that did not have IT capability," Persichilli said.
"Throughout November and December, the staff at the department assisted these facilities. This was the work that department was engaged in, and it was a decision the department made to once again include as many vulnerable individuals as possible," she added. "This resulted in our start date of December 28. It was a decision made to give access and hope to those in need, not the least among us, but for those who should be the first."
The health commissioner explained that in order to start vaccinations in nursing homes on December 21, there was a deadline of December 7 for inputting all the registered skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, and assisted living facilities (totaling 650 in the state).
"We missed that date by a day,” Persichilli said.
"This is a travesty," said one New Jersey long-term care facility executive who requested anonymity. "How could they handle this in this way? In Department of Health terms, this is considered a 'delay of treatment' and would result in a deficiency."
About half of the state's 16,418 COVID-related deaths occurred among elderly populations.
Gov. Murphy said during the briefing that vaccine doses will be administered by CVS and Walgreens and that nursing home patients and long-term care residents would be among the first people in the state to be vaccinated.
Persichilli said that the vaccination plan is to start with long-term care, followed by assisted living, and then the state developmental facilities. After that comes thousands of group homes, and they will be in the queue to be visited and vaccinated.
"Remember, it's two vaccinations, it's a two-shot deal. This is a big program, and so 125,000 vaccinations times two, so about 250,000 vaccinations. It will take a while," Persichilli said. "We do not have the schedule from CVS and Walgreens yet. Long-term care will start next week."
"We have been hearing unofficially that while nursing homes are getting the vaccine, assisted living communities will not be receiving it in December, and perhaps not until February," said Roger Bernier, president of Chelsea Senior Living, which operates 16 facilities across the state. "The state is obviously separating nursing homes from assisted living communities and prioritizing nursing homes because it appears the N.J. Health Department missed the deadline for ordering enough vaccine."
"We are not happy about this, as you might expect. Our industry is again behind the curve during a pandemic due to mishandling by the government," Bernier added.
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December 23, 2020 at 07:12PM
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Vaccine Distribution at Long-Term Care Facilities Delayed Because State Missed Filing Deadline - TAPinto.net
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