Ongoing COVID-19 Long-Term Care Vaccination Plan

 

To: Residential care facilities (Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Group Homes, and Intermediate Care Facilities)   From: HFEMS Residential Care Strike Team   As the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care (LTC) Program comes to an end, it is important to ensure LTC facilities have continued access to the COVID-19 vaccine for unvaccinated residents and staff. Most vaccine clinics provided by the program will likely be completed by the end of March 2021.   The CDC recently issued guidance for Ensuring Access to COVID-19 Vaccine in Long-Term Care Facilities, which requests LTC facilities contact their pharmacy to see if they are enrolled to provide COVID-19 vaccinations.   Continuing Vaccination:   The Residential Care Strike Team has outlined the following next steps for LTC facilities to continue vaccinations:  The facility identifies residents and/or staff requiring vaccination (we encourage you to work with other LTC facilities in geographic areas to run coordinated clinic(s), when possible, to meet vaccine minimums) The facility contacts LTC pharmacy or retail pharmacy it typically utilizes to determine vaccine availability   If the LTC pharmacy or retail pharmacy the facility typically utilizes is unable to meet the request or the facility does not have a relationship with an LTC pharmacy or retail pharmacy, the facility contacts a LTC pharmacy from this mapped list of LTC pharmacies willing to service facility location (geographically). Alternatively, here is a list of providers (.pdf).   LTC pharmacy fulfills request and schedules vaccinations with the facility contact (or in some instances LTC pharmacy provides vaccine/vital supplies and facility nurse(s) vaccinates identified residents and/or staff at facility)   If LTC pharmacies near a facility location are unable to meet the request, the facility should utilize the following: Where can I get vaccinated? | Colorado COVID-19 Updates If unable to locate vaccinator through available resources provided, the facility should contact: residentialcarestriketeam@state.co.us   Vaccine supplies remain limited and your facility may need to be put on a waiting list for those in need of the vaccine. Facilities are encouraged to contact their long-term care pharmacy as early as possible to ensure staff and residents are able to be vaccinated.   For residents and staff that are able to go to an offsite vaccine clinic, use the Where can I get vaccinated? site to locate available options.   For residents and staff that have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose (Pfizer or Moderna), need a second dose, attempts to utilize all options previously listed have been unsuccessful, and all vaccine providers contacted are unable to provide the same vaccine as the first dose, complete this form.    Walgreens Partners:   For those vaccinated by Walgreens, please use their appointment scheduler to find an in-store appointment for the second dose. If the appointment scheduler is full or not offering appointments, the facility can reach out to their VACCINE LEAD (Walgreens point of contact) to manually schedule an appointment. Appointment location and times offered will be based on limited COVID vaccine availability. Appointments are scheduled in 15-minute increments and Walgreens will administer the vaccine inside retail stories or can send a team member out to the vehicle if necessary.    NOTE: the patient will need to stay and be observed for 15 minutes after the shot is administered to ensure safety/no adverse reactions; if the patient will be staying in the vehicle we ask that a staff member or caregiver help support with the observation period in the parking lot.   Strike Team Assistance:   If your LTC pharmacy is able to vaccinate residents/staff and we do not have them listed on our contacts, please send the pharmacy name and contact information to residentialcarestriketeam@state.co.us.   If your LTC pharmacy would like to become a COVID-19 vaccine provider, please let the strike team know by emailing: residentialcarestriketeam@state.co.us and the pharmacy can contact the vaccine team for assistance by emailing cdphe_covidvax@state.co.us.