Herd Immunity Closer?

Herd Immunity?

We need to get to herd immunity quickly. Good news. We are ahead of schedule. The CDC updates their vaccine tracker daily. The CDC reported that more than one in every six U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated for the coronavirus.  The data shows herd immunity is getting closer.

At least, 40 percent of adults aged 65 years and older are fully vaccinated. 17 percent of the entire adult population are fully vaccinated.  Incredibly, more than 125 million doses in total have been administered with 45 million adults fully inoculated. This is well ahead of Biden’s promise of 100 million in 100 days.

Unfortunately, Covid-19 cases are still increasing in 21 states. Highly infectious variants are spreading. Some governors removed restrictions on restaurants, bars and gyms. Texas seems to be surging again. Florida will see a surge after Spring Break.

Infection Control

Legislators called on CMS to impose tougher rules on providers regarding infection control and prevention. The agency should publicly post infection control deficiencies and staffing information for facilities. Additionally, CMS could restore the safety rule requiring facilities to employ an infection preventionist on staff.

Rev. Dr. Derrick DeWitt is the director and chief financial officer of the Maryland Baptist Aged Home. He won national praise for the measures he took to keep COVID-19 out of the 30-resident nursing home. Every facility could have done the same by placing infection control into the day-to-day practices of care.

“A hospital is an infection death trap,” DeWitt told Skilled Nursing News in a wide-ranging interview on March 2. “Unless you keep the person in the ICU [intensive care unit] and you keep them in a bubble, and you wear a gown, wear gloves, wear a mask every time you go in and out … you’re not going to control infection with that person. Why should we take that chance at the hospital? Send them to the nursing home, let them have the risk. We did the risk of the surgery, let them have the risk of getting the person back to health. It’s ludicrous.”