05/19/2022

NHSN Vaccine Data Update

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began offering training opportunities this month to describe changes coming to the COVID-19 Long-Term Care Facility module and vaccination reporting module in NHSN. Updates to Long-Term Care Facility COVID-19 Surveillance Module ONLY (no COVID-19 Vaccination Module) will be offered on May 24 from 3:00-4:00PM, registration is available here, and also on May 26, from 3:00-4:00PM, registration is available here. The NHSN call’s this week covered the following upcoming changes to the vaccination data reporting:

• Removed question on vaccine manufacturer and vaccine supply
• Monthly reporting plan completion to submit COVID-19 vaccination module data will no longer be required for months beginning June 2022
• Added reporting fields to Question 4 of the resident form only on the number of booster doses received by residents
• New question on up-to-date vaccination status

The following key terms were reviewed:

• Additional dose is defined as another dose of vaccine administered to people who are were less likely to mount a protective immune response after initial vaccination. People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised should receive an additional dose.
• Booster dose is defined as another dose of vaccine administered after receiving a primary vaccine series to enhance or restore protection which might have subsided over time.

The following explanation was provided for differentiating between additional and booster doses. If an individual was administered one or two doses of COVID-19 vaccine after they completed their primary series, with no further details provided, then for the purpose of NHSN surveillance assume these doses are boosters (i.e., not additional doses) unless you have specific documentation indicating that they are additional doses administered due to the individual having a moderately to severely immunocompromising condition.

A new question was added asking for the cumulative number of individuals who are up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. The definition of up to date may change so facilities were instructed to review a new CDC NHSN guidance document that will be posted to the NHSN website with the current definition of up to date vaccination. Users should review this document at least one per quarter to check for definition updates.  Individuals are considered up to date in the following two cases:

• An individual received all recommended doses in their primary vaccine series and received one or more booster dose(s). An individual does not need to receive a second booster dose to be considered up to date at this time.
• An individual received all recommended doses in the primary vaccine series but is not yet eligible for a booster dose. Individuals who are not yet eligible to receive a booster dose include:
  • Those who received their second dose of a 2-dose primary series of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) less than 5 months ago.
  • Those who received a single dose of Janssen less than two months ago.

A new note will be added to the top of the form noting that data can be reported a few different ways:

• Entering data directly into the COVID-19 Vaccination Modules
• Uploading CSV files
• Using the Event-Level COVID-19 Vaccination Forms and selecting the “View reporting summary and submit” but.

The Monthly Reporting Plan will no longer be required for vaccination modules from the NHSN application beginning with reporting for June 2022 and forward. MRPs remain required for reporting Weekly COVID-19 Vaccination Module data in the HPS and LTC components through May 2022. Users will see the new agreement before saving data using the vaccination forms, CSV upload or the event level forms.

The slides will be posted to the CDC NHSN webpage in the coming weeks. Facilities can contact the CDC with NHSN question by emailing nhsn@cdc.gov and writing in “Weekly COVID-19 Vaccination” in the subject line of the email along with the facility type.

Facilities can contact CMS with questions about reporting requirements and quality reporting at Long-term care facilities weekly reporting by emailing DNH_TriageTeam@cms.hhs.gov or Skilled nursing facilities quality reporting program at SNFQualityQuestions@cms.hhs.gov.