AARP Iowa Statement on Requiring Nursing Homes to Mandate Staff Vaccinations

AARP Iowa State Director Brad Anderson released the following statement today in response to news from Washington that the Federal Government will require all nursing homes to mandate vaccination for staffers or face loss of Medicare and Medicaid funds. 

"We are pleased with the news from the White House that nursing home staff will be required to be vaccinated as a condition of receiving federal funds. Recent data released by AARP shows only 22 percent of Iowa nursing homes have reached the industry standard of 75 percent of its workers being vaccinated. Today, Iowa nursing homes still have a long way to go meet the vaccination standards set by the industry. The new federal requirements should help spur much-needed action. As the new variants are emerging, nursing home facilities cannot let preventable problems be repeated. The key is to increase vaccinations, and do it now."