Florida Ranks Among the Worst in Vaccination of Nursing Home Staff

AARP has released an updated Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard, adding two new components that will track nursing home resident and staff vaccination rates. Current data show that just 42 percent of Florida’s nursing home workers are vaccinated, significantly behind the national average of more than 56 percent.

AARP Florida State Director Jeff Johnson said, “It’s troubling news that Florida continues to lag significantly behind the nation in the percent of fully vaccinated health care workers in our nursing homes. Florida now accounts for one in five new U.S. cases of COVID. With cases once again rising across the country and considering the highly contagious Delta variant, every effort must be made to protect vulnerable nursing home residents.

“AARP encourages residents and staff in long-term care facilities to get a free COVID vaccine to protect yourself, your family and your community. Health care workers in nursing homes have direct access to our most vulnerable citizens. If the majority of these workers remain unvaccinated, the spread of the virus will persist, endangering the lives of everyone involved. Let me be clear: now is the time for Florida to do whatever it takes to ensure long-term care workers and residents are fully vaccinated if we are going to end this deadly pandemic.”

AARP is working hard to identify and share resources with individuals and organizations across the state to spread the word about how to get vaccinated. AARP encourages Floridians to explore vaccination options in their communities. Check out the up-to-date vaccine resources at www.aarp.org/flvaccine. To find a vaccine in your area, visit the Florida Department of Health’s Vaccine Locator. If you or a loved one are homebound, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs will meet you at home for vaccination. For older Floridians who need assistance, call 1-800-96-ELDER, to schedule your shot.

Vaccination Rates of Nursing Home Staff

In the four weeks ending June 20, 2021, the percent of Florida nursing homes reporting new staff cases of COVID-19 decreased from 48 percent to 26 percent, still twice the national average of 13 percent. The percent of new resident cases also decreased during the same time period, down from 19 percent to 11 percent, still more than twice the national average of 5 percent. Approximately 21 percent of Florida’s nursing homes continue to suffer from staffing shortages, slightly lower than the previous month’s report.

Using data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—which is self-reported by nursing homes—the AARP Public Policy Institute, in collaboration with the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University in Ohio, created the AARP Nursing Home COVID-19 Dashboard to provide four-week snapshots of the virus' infiltration into nursing homes and impact on nursing home residents and staff.

The federal data do not include coronavirus cases among residents or staff of assisted-living facilities, group homes and other congregate elder-care facilities. That data is included in Florida government statistics.