Vaccinating healthcare workers who work in home- or community based-settings but are not included in the Pharmacy Partnership Program for Long-Term Care “should be of the utmost priority,” LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in a letter to members of the incoming Biden administration’s COVID team on Wednesday.

Sloan, who also is acting president and CEO of VNAA/ElevatingHOME, asked them to provide vaccination clinics targeting the thousands of nurses, aides, physical and occupational therapists and other staff who work each day in home care, hospice, Programs for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly and adult day centers “keep older adults out of congregate settings, where the risk of COVID exposure is even higher.”

“They also keep older adults out of hospitals, which are currently overburdened,” the letter continued. “In short, getting these workers vaccinated should be of the utmost priority – and so far, that urgency is not being met by the logistical rollout of the vaccine. These health care workers must be vaccinated.”