02/24/2022

Ohio’s vaccine campaign call: Clarifications provided

The Ohio Department of Aging (ODA) and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) hosted a webinar entitled Mounting Our Defense: Vaccines and Therapeutics to Protect Residents from COVID-19 on February 23 and 24 for Ohio’s healthcare facility leadership teams and medical directors. The program focused on Ohio’s vaccination campaign. 

A United Kingdom COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report was reviewed during the call. The study notes that vaccine protection against hospitalization remains high, particularly after three vaccine doses. The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines document was also covered. Details on the therapeutics covered during the presentation can be found in these presentation slides. 

LeadingAge Ohio encourages providers to speak to their contract pharmacy to discuss the process to obtain current therapeutics for non-hospitalized adults with COVID-19. The Regional Rapid Response Program (R3AP) can also assist providers in obtaining therapeutics. The R3AP hotline number is (855) 732-7632. The panelist stated that the R3AP program supports providers with vaccination, COVID-19 testing and cohorting, temporary staff support, infection prevention and control education, and crisis staffing support. 

During the Q&A portion, the panelist explained the CDC language of “up to date.” CDC’s COVID-19 webpage, last updated on January 16, which explains the definition of “up to date” as a person who has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible. “Fully vaccinated” means a person has received their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines. There were several questions in which the panelist didn’t have the answer readily available, however LeadingAge Ohio has provided the answers in recent newsletters in the “You Asked We Answered (YAWA)” articles along with CMS, CDC, ODH update articles on this updated language and clarifications about quarantine, isolation, and the vaccine mandate. These past newsletters can be found here. Please email Corey Markham at cmarkham@leadingagehio.org if you are not sure if you or one of your team members are receiving the newsletters.

The panelists noted that the recording and slides are planned to be shared on the ODA’s The Road Back: COVID-19 Resources for Congregate Settings webpage.