Thursday, September 29, 2022

RCF COVID-19 Mitigation Guidance temporary allowance extension for up-to-date

 

To: Residential care facilities (Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Group Homes, and Intermediate Care Facilities)


From: CDPHE Residential Care Strike Team and Infection Prevention Program


On Sept. 1, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the bivalent COVID-19 mRNA booster doses that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized on August 31, 2022. The Pfizer bivalent vaccine is recommended for people aged 12 years and older. The Moderna bivalent vaccine is recommended for people aged 18 years and older. The prior (original) vaccines, are still used for primary series vaccination.

After the CDC update, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced residents and staff who met the previous criteria would be considered “up to date” for the purposes of the mitigation strategies listed in the CDPHE RCF Mitigation Guidance until September 30, 2022.


CDC updated the CDC Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations and CMS updated their requirements on September 23. Due to these updates, CDPHE began updating the CDPHE RCF Mitigation Guidance to align with our Federal partner updates. Due to these changes, CDPHE will extend the mitigation guidance temporary allowance for up-to-date until CDPHE releases updated RCF Mitigation Guidance. CDPHE will communicate with facilities as soon as the new guidance is released. 


Until the CDPHE RCF Mitigation Guidance is updated, residents and staff will be considered “up to date” for the purposes of the mitigation strategies listed in the CDPHE RCF Mitigation Guidance if they have completed:


  • A primary COVID-19 series and are not yet eligible for a booster dose.


  • Their primary COVID-19 series and ALL booster doses (as recommended for them by CDC as of August 31, 2022) or any booster dose in the last two months.


Residents and staff will continue to be considered “not up to date” for the purposes of the mitigation strategies listed in the RCF Mitigation Guidance if they have not:


  • Completed a primary COVID-19 series.


  • Received all booster doses recommended for them by CDC as of August 31, 2022.


Everyone will be considered “up to date” immediately upon receiving the new omicron (bivalent) dose, regardless of a prior booster vaccination.


CDPHE is committed to ensuring that residents and staff in long-term care settings, such as nursing homes, assisted living residences, residential care communities, and group homes, have easy and convenient access to COVID-19 vaccines. See the sections below for vaccine clinic requirements, and how to request a vaccine clinic from CDPHE. 


RCF Comprehensive Mitigation Guidance vaccination requirements:

As the FDA authorizes and CDC recommends additional COVID-19 vaccine doses, facilities must:

 

  • Evaluate their residents' and staff's vaccination status and adhere to the new standards. 


  • Provide CDPHE-approved messaging and materials to residents, resident decision-makers, and staff alerting them to updated COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and the importance of getting and staying up to date with all recommended doses.





  • Make the vaccine available to staff and residents at their facility, within 60 days of any updates to CDC recommendations.



  • Communicate with CDPHE through EMResource regarding the facility’s ability to provide a vaccination clinic and respond to CDPHE’s communication to schedule a clinic.


How to request a vaccine clinic from CDPHE


CDPHE will provide one vaccine clinic before November 1, 2022 to facilities that are unable to provide a vaccine clinic on their own or use a community vaccine provider.


Facilities that need CDPHE assistance to provide a vaccination clinic should complete the following EMResource question AND the Long Term Care Facility (LTCF) Booster Clinic Request Fall 2022 form must be submitted by October 14, 2022 to allow for clinic scheduling.


Question: CDPHE COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Assistance

Definition: The RCF Comprehensive Mitigation Guidance requires that facilities offer a COVID-19 vaccine clinic to staff and residents inside their facility within 60 days of any update to CDC’s vaccine recommendations. CDC recommended COVID-19 omicron bivalent vaccine doses on September 1, 2022. CDPHE can assist with vaccination clinics for facilities that need it, but encourages all facilities to develop plans with community partners and document that information in the Ongoing COVID-19 Vaccination and Treatment Form. Does your facility require any CDPHE assistance to hold that clinic?



  • No: The facility is responsible for providing its own vaccine clinic and should report the vaccine provider it will use in the comments section.


When your facility answers YES to this EMResource question AND completes the request form, a CDPHE representative will contact your facility to gather the necessary information to schedule the clinic. To prevent communication delays, ensure all contact information listed for your facility in the Colorado Health Facilities Interactive (COHFI) system is accurate. 


A designated facility representative needs to quickly connect with a CDPHE representative to begin this process. When CDPHE contacts your facility about your COVID-19 vaccination needs, answer or return the call as soon as possible.  

This clinic can be used by both residents and staff to provide bivalent and/or primary doses of COVID-19 vaccine.


Begin gathering consent for COVID-19 vaccinations before your vaccine clinic by reviewing CDPHE’s COVID-19 vaccine screening and administration form (most recent version is dated Sept. 1, 2022 or later).


After the clinic is complete, facilities are expected to update EMResource with the date the vaccine clinic was completed that offered omicron bivalent booster vaccines, the number of residents who received the new omicron bivalent dose, as well as up-to-date, not up-to-date, and not vaccinated resident and staff.


EMResource questions update

CDPHE updated EMResource with additional questions related to facility COVID-19 vaccine clinics and residents receiving the omicron bivalent doses.


Question: COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Date

Definition: Since September 1, 2022, provide the most recent date that your facility offered a COVID-19 vaccine clinic to offer the omicron bivalent doses recommended by CDC on September 1, 2022. If your facility did not offer a vaccine clinic to provide the omicron bivalent doses, a comment is needed for this question. 


Question: Resident omicron doses

Definition: Number of residents who got a COVID-19 omicron dose at any clinic(s) at your facility or outside of your facility from their primary care provider or another vaccine provider since September 1, 2022. CDC updated their COVID-19 vaccine recommendation to include omicron doses for those aged 12 years and older who completed a primary vaccination series if it has been at least two months after the second dose in the primary vaccination series or at least two months since the last booster dose. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html





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