Skip to main content

Employees of federally funded nursing homes will need to be immunized, Biden said.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled a plan to ensure employees are vaccinated against Covid-19 in government-sponsored nursing homes and to withhold funds from those who break the rules.

This is the first time the White House has threatened to withhold government money to increase vaccination rates, affecting 15,000 health facilities that employ 1.3 million people. In September, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will pass emergency regulations requiring staff to be vaccinated as a condition of receiving money.

While officials in the Biden administration have been promoting vaccinations and supporting government-level incentives for those vaccinated for months, the upcoming decision represents a radical shift towards punishing improper facilities.

https://s.abcnews.com/images/Health/WireAP_f1582a2ad3804edfac523f5d48a89766_16x9_992.jpg

“During the existence of the virus, more than 130,000 patients in nursing homes have died. On the other hand, the vaccination rate for healthcare workers lags behind the rest of the country, ”Biden said in his White House speech. “With this announcement, I am using the federal government's ability to pay health care costs to ensure that our most vulnerable seniors are protected. These precautions are designed to protect people and protect them from harm. "

High vaccination rates among nursing home workers are associated with a 30% reduction in Covid-19 cases in long-term patients, research shows.

Earlier this month, the administration offered to introduce vaccinations, which sparked outrage from Republicans and industry groups, who said they would fight it.

In comments on the need for Covid-19 boosters among the general population, Biden announced the order, citing the continued outbreak caused by the Delta variant, which now accounts for nearly all new cases of Covid-19 in the country. Biden also supported expanding workplace vaccination mandates and advocated cover-up in schools to keep young people safe.

The health department will still have to develop and agree on new rules that are expected to come into effect next month. According to the CDC, only 60% of health workers have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Many of the people most vulnerable to the severe form of Covid-19 and the impact of further variations are served by these workers, who serve around 1.6 million people who provide health services.

New statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday showed a sharp drop in vaccine effectiveness, especially among nursing home residents, raising concerns that the most vulnerable remain at risk as the virus spreads among them.

Several states have already introduced vaccination requirements for nursing home staff, "and this measure will set consistent and fair standards across the country," the White House said.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Taliban's medieval justice: The corpses of three 'criminals' are hoisted from diggers in Herat after they 'invaded another man's home and tried to rob him' in Afghanistan

The bodies of three alleged criminals were hung from diggers in Afghanistan by the Taliban, harrowing pictures released today show. According to deputy governor Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir, the three men were killed by another man when they entered his home in Obe district in Herat province. In the graphic images shared on social media, the corpses are shown publicly hoisted into the air and hanging by their necks from the raised arms of two diggers as people below watch on and take photographs. Tuesday's gruesome publicly display is yet another example of the kind of practices that feed international concern that the Taliban have returned to their brutal ways last seen when they were in control of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. This is despite the Taliban frequently insisting to the world that it has changed from the hard-line Islamic group that doled out brutal punishments to criminals and greatly restricted the rights of the country's citizens, particularly women and girls. P...

Gambino family underboss dies in prison from 'health issues' at the age of 89: Daughter 'rushed to be by her father's side and he sang Frank Sinatra as he took his last breath'

Frank LoCascio, the Dapper Don's former underboss and acting consigliere, passed away Friday after serving 31 years of a life sentence A Gambino crime family underboss who stayed loyal to John Gotti even as the pair were hit with life sentences during a 1992 murder and racketeering trial has died in prison at age 89. Frank LoCascio, the Dapper Don's former underboss and acting consigliere, passed away Friday at the Federal Medical Center, Devens - a facility that houses federal prisoners with health issues - in Massachusetts. His daughter, Lisa LoCascio, was by his side as he took his last breaths.  LoCascio had been incarcerated for 31 years before his death last week after famously refusing to snitch on notorious mob boss Gotti during their infamous and highly publicized trial.  What's more, the high-ranking mafioso managed to cheat death during his three decades in the pen even with Gotti as his enemy, after the Teflon Don turned on him and put a 'contract' on hi...

The Texas abortion ban sends mixed signals about the future of Roe v. Wade.

Legal experts say it is still unclear how the Supreme Court will rule on long-standing abortion guarantees, which it plans to review later this year. Despite uproar from activist organizations that see the move as a de facto departure from the 1973 ruling, the Supreme Court's failure to act on Texas's near-total abortion ban does not necessarily mean Roe v. Wade is dead. Legal experts say it is unclear how the Supreme Court will rule on long-standing guarantees for abortion, which it plans to review later this year when it hears a direct appeal against this important ruling. Texas' first-of-its-kind law allows individuals, not the government, to impose a six-week ban on abortion and file lawsuits against health professionals or anyone who helps someone get an abortion. Clinics and other potential claimants will find it more difficult to establish their position in court or to determine a specific target for satisfying claims due to the unusual enforcement mechanism. Judges...