Latest Vaccination Updates
New Vaccine Prioritization Guidance Issued
On March 5th, the State issued new vaccine prioritization guidance adding public-facing staff of permitted home-delivered meal programs, food banks, and food pantries to the vaccination eligibility list. LeadingAge NY is inquiring about which permitted programs are eligible. The guidance also elaborates on utilization of first and second dose supply as doses near their end use date. While the guidance is more relevant for large-scale vaccinators, facilities and agencies should review the provisions that require that unused frozen second doses not beyond their 42-day window not be used as first doses and only be repurposed for first doses after the 42-day end date.
The State also reissued several vaccine guidance documents that incorporate information about the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Updated guidance is available here and includes updates to the following:
- Guidance for the New York State COVID-19 Vaccination Program (effective March 5th)
- Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Letter of Authorization (issued March 1st – revised)
- New York State COVID-19 Immunization Screening and Consent Form
- Information for Health Care Professionals about the Screening Checklist for the COVID-19 Vaccine
- New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Storage and Handling Overview
- New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Program Temperature Excursion Report
- New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Program Guidance for Vaccine Transport and Tracking Sheet
- New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Program Redistribution and Q&A
Also newly issued is a non-patient-specific standing order template for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Staff of Senior Housing and Independent Living Now Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine
On March 9th, Governor Cuomo announced in a press conference that all 60+ individuals will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting March 10th. Further, starting March 17th, all vaccination sites will be able to vaccinate anyone eligible, except pharmacies, which will be limited to teachers and those 60+.
The Governor also announced that new public-facing populations will be added to the vaccination eligibility list starting March 17th. Included are public-facing staff of nonprofit organizations, which includes staff of senior housing and independent living.
Additional populations eligible to receive the vaccine starting March 17th are:
- Public employees, public-facing eligible
- Essential workers, public-facing eligible
- Building workers, public-facing eligible
HCBS Vaccine Update
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) is making a concerted effort to vaccinate home care workers. It is seeking to enlist home care agency administrators to become trained and authorized schedulers in their scheduling system. Agencies would be allowed to set up 10 to 20 appointments for their staff every day for at least a week in their system. Please complete and send the information below to Meg Everett by COB on March 10th if your agency is interested, and we will relay the information to NYC staff. The City will start to slowly enlist agencies to train and utilize the system. NYC DOHMH encourages home care staff to move ahead with vaccinations in the community as they move through this process and not to rely solely on this avenue for vaccination.
- Home Care Agency Name
- Number of Staff
- Point of Contact (name/email/phone)
- Preferred location(s):
- Bronx – Bathgate Postal Station (4006 3rd Ave., Bronx, NY 10457)
- Queens – Martin van Buren High School (230-17 Hillside Avenue, Queens, NY 11427)
- Brooklyn – Teachers Prep High School (226 Bristol St., Brooklyn, NY 11212)
The City is also partnering with Mobile Health, an occupational health provider for many home care agencies in NYC, to provide COVID-19 vaccines for home health and home care workers in NYC. Vaccination is at no charge to the worker or the home care agency. Mobile Health’s vaccine clinic is in Midwood, Brooklyn at 1797 Coney Island Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11230. New sites are also being established in the Bronx and Queens.
If you work with Mobile Health, they can register your workforce for vaccine appointments through their employer portal starting now. If you have not previously worked with Mobile Health and you need assistance with creating an account with them, please see this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. For further information, please see the FAQ or reach out to accountmanagers@mobilehealth.net.
NYC Utilization of the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
NYC DOHMH indicates that it is utilizing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for individuals being discharged from hospitals to long term care facilities. It is also having the City Fire Department utilize the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to vaccinate the homebound. This includes vaccination of the homebound individual, their aide, and any family members living with the individual. The homebound COVID-19 vaccination opt-in link is available here. NYC is also providing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to hospitals and other private providers to vaccinate the homebound. Home care agencies interested in providing vaccinations should reach out to NYC DOHMH and enroll as an NYC vaccine provider.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-929-9342