DES MOINES, Iowa — Only 60% of nursing home residents in Iowa and 19% of nursing home staff had received a COVID-19 booster as of mid-November, according to the latest data from AARP’s Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard.
With holiday gatherings on the horizon, these numbers are a cause for concern, according to a statement from the AARP.
After more than a year and a half into the pandemic, rates of COVID-19 cases in nursing homes are rising again nationally, along with increased community spread. While case rates declined slightly compared to the same time period last month, according to the AARP dashboard, looking week to week, the number of cases increased each week during the four weeks ending Nov. 21.
In Iowa, resident cases increased from a rate of 2.3 in mid-October to 2.6 in mid-November. Staff cases remained about the same, from a rate of 3.2 to 3.1 during this same time period. Nursing home resident deaths from coronavirus remained the same from mid-October to mid-November.
“Increasing vaccination rates—including boosters — among nursing home residents and staff is key to protecting our loved ones and getting the pandemic under control.” said Brad Anderson, state director of AARP Iowa, which serves more than 350,000 members age 50 and older.
“AARP calls on nursing homes, state and federal authorities, and others to increase access to and receipt of COVID-19 boosters for both nursing home staff and residents,” Anderson said. “As new variants emerge and vaccine immunity wanes, the low number of residents and staff who have received a booster creates an unacceptable level of risk since the disease spreads so easily in these environments.”
While the percentage of residents and staff who have received boosters remains low, rates of those fully vaccinated—those who have received two COVID-19 shots—continue to slowly rise as of Nov. 21. In Iowa, about 74% of nursing home staff is fully vaccinated and 94% of nursing home residents.
“We applaud the progress made throughout 2021 in getting Iowa nursing home staff vaccination rates up to 74%,” Anderson said. “We hope that our Iowa nursing home leaders will continue to urgently commit to increasing vaccination and booster rates among staff and residents.”
The number of facilities in Iowa reporting a shortage of nurses or aides remains a steady problem, with some 51% of Iowa’s nursing homes still reporting staff shortage in the four weeks ending Nov. 21.
The AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard analyzes federally reported data in four-week periods going back to June 1, 2020. Using this data, the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the dashboard to provide snapshots of the virus’ infiltration into nursing homes and impact on nursing home residents and staff, with the goal of identifying specific areas of concern at the national and state levels in a timely manner.
