Vaccination rates in Maricopa County are increasing rapidly. Almost 530,000 people (over 15% of all adult residents have been vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. That is almost 100,000 more people who have received at least one dose of the vaccine since last week! Nearly one-third of those vaccinated have received both doses. Half of those vaccinated in Maricopa County are 65 years or older and 53% are over 75 years. That's good news because this week, Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) adopted the Centers for Disease Control and prevention's (CDC) recommendation for persons who are fully vaccinated (two weeks after receiving the second vaccine dose) who have been exposed to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Right now, the new guidance states that fully vaccinated individuals who have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they are within three months of receiving the second vaccine dose and are asymptomatic. If you have not been fully vaccinated with two doses, quarantining after exposure remains at 14 days. MCDPH noted that this interim guidance is based on current knowledge, and the time frame from the last vaccine dose may extend beyond three months. Unfortunately at this time, this updated interim guidance will not apply to our residents living in skilled nursing and possibly assisted living. This is due to the higher risk of severe disease or death in this population and to the challenges associated with social distance in such settings.
We are fully prepared for our vaccine clinic on Tuesday, February 23. You may have been hearing on the news that there is a vaccine shortage in parts of the country, particularly in light of the devastating storms in Texas, but we have been assured that the vaccines for our clinic on Tuesday are allocated and ready for our use. We are grateful for CVS, our pharmacy partner, who manages this end of the supply chain.
We have some good news about vaccine rates here at the campus. Nearly all residents in Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living have been vaccinated. (Those in Skilled Nursing received their second dose last month and those in Assisted Living will receive their second dose next week.) Our Independent Living residents have a vaccination rate of 85%. We are still compiling the statistics for the rate of vaccination among staff. I want to thank all who chose to be vaccinated. Fighting this pandemic is a team effort. We are protecting ourselves, our co-workers, residents, families and our community.
We continue to administer testing weekly for all staff, and twice weekly for staff who work in the licensed areas and for those who have direct contact with residents. At the weekly testing, we conducted 283 tests and, for the third week in a row, all results were negative. We did however, receive a positive result at the Thursday testing of Health care Center staff for a support staff person. We immediately sent the individual home to quarantine and began contact tracing. However, this means that the Skilled Nursing unit and the Advanced Memory Support unit are back in what is considered “outbreak status” with no visitation and staff will be in full PPE. We are also instituting twice-a-week COVID-19 testing of residents living in the Health Care Center building. We will continue to support regular staff testing in order to identify positive cases so we can take immediate action to mitigate the spread.
We are privileged to serve the residents living at Beatitudes Campus. Thank you for your trust. Please stay well.
My best,
Michelle Just, President and ceo
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