Question: How has the omicron wave impacted nursing homes/long-term care facilities?
Answer: CDC tracks cases, deaths, and vaccination rates in nursing homes. During the omicron wave, reported cases in nursing homes were their highest ever (Figure 1). Meanwhile, COVID-related deaths among nursing home residents modestly increased, but at a much, much lower rate than in previous waves (Figure 2). With 87.6% of nursing home residents fully vaccinated and 70% of residents receiving an additional primary or booster dose, we can attribute these lower death rates/counts to vaccines. These data indicate that vaccine effectiveness against infection has dramatically waned, but effectiveness against severe outcomes remains robust. When it comes to assessing risk by vaccination status, we are a bit hamstrung because these CDC data are missing background information (including vaccination status) of residents who died due to COVID. A couple more notes:
- On/about January 31, 2022, the US passed a grim milestone of >200,000 deaths among long-term care residents and staff due to COVID. This represents ~23% of all COVID deaths. That figure is astonishing and upsetting. To add a bit of perspective, in 2017, 21% of all deaths in the US occurred in nursing homes (see Q&A of 5/27/20).
- For brevity, I’ve focused this response on residents of nursing homes, but staff are also at risk. If you’re interested in reading more about nursing home staff, check out the links embedded above, as well as this recent Kaiser Family Foundation report and AARP dashboard.
Figure 1. Trends in weekly COVID Cases among Nursing Home Residents, USA (from CDC)
Figure 2. Trends in weekly COVID Deaths among Nursing Home Residents, USA (from CDC)
