Changes to nursing home care slow COVID infection rates
Lara Salahi / Correspondent
Fears of COVID-19 infections in nursing homes may be subsiding as more facilities employ the trifecta of increased staffing, surveillance testing and vaccinations.
Christine Tardiff, chief operations officer and vice president of Clinical Services at Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley and North Shore, says just a year ago, the agency had to field through the heightened fears from families who were reluctant to place their loved ones in a nursing home.
“At the beginning of the pandemic when things spiked in March and May we absolutely saw an increased concern [from families],” said Tardiff. “We were definitely finding and hearing that families did not want their loved ones placed in a nursing home.
STATEHOUSE ROUNDUP: Riding shotgun
Recap and analysis of the week in state government
Kids, grandkids, neighbors. Strangers online. Suddenly everyone this week was craving a little quality time with the older and wiser among us, looking to get out of the house and go for a drive . maybe to Gillette Stadium, or the Eastfield Mall.
The sudden popularity of the so-called Silent Generation had to do with Gov. Charlie Baker s new policy on vaccinating the 75-and-older cohort. Beginning Thursday, Baker said that anyone who accompanied an eligible senior citizen to a state-run vaccination site could get the shot as well, regardless of their age or health.
Buddy system offered to boost 75-and-over vaccinations
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker AP FILE PHOTO/STEVEN SENNE
Published: 2/11/2021 12:06:11 PM
Anyone but only one person who accompanies a senior 75 or older to get a COVID-19 vaccine at one of the state’s mass vaccination sites are eligible starting Thursday to get a shot themselves, Gov. Charlie Baker said, detailing a new plan Wednesday to try to reach as many elderly residents as possible.
Baker said the new policy was designed to better reach a population that he described as being at a significantly higher risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 as those even slightly younger. With a little over a week of experience vaccinating the 75-and-older population, the governor said health officials have learned that many “might be hesitant to go to a mass vaccination site without a relative or a caregiver.”
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