State nursing homes under pressure to get workers vaccinated
By Glenn Howatt Star Tribune AUGUST 20, 2021 — 5:23AM
COVID-19 infections in Minnesota's nursing homes are on the upswing as facility officials await more details about a federal mandate that workers get the COVID-19 vaccine.
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that nursing homes will be at risk of losing Medicare and Medicaid dollars if their workers are not fully vaccinated. But many crucial details about how the mandate will be implemented have yet to be revealed.
About 34% of nursing home health care workers in Minnesota are not fully vaccinated, and in 55 of the state's 364 nursing homes, the staff vaccination rates are below 50%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The resident vaccination rate stands at 91%, the seventh highest in the country.
As a result, there were twice as many new staff COVID-19 cases compared with resident infections last week. Read more