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Thirty-four nursing homes for the elderly in New South Wales are currently struggling with a Covid-19 outbreak or are under close surveillance due to recent cases, new data shows.
The resurgence of the virus in the eastern states has again put dozens of care facilities for the elderly at risk and highlighted the low vaccination rates among older social workers, who the government had promised to receive the vaccine before Easter.
Department of Health data shows 24 elderly care facilities across NSW were experiencing outbreaks as of Monday morning. Ten other residential care facilities for the elderly were under “enhanced surveillance”.
These 10 sites are not considered by the department to be “active epidemics”, but they are being watched closely because of the recent positive cases.
Australia’s Capital Territory also faces a potential outbreak at the Greenway Views facility in southern Canberra, after a worker tested positive and unknowingly worked three shifts while on the job. infectious.
The spread of the virus in elderly care has again highlighted the huge proportion of elderly care workers who are still waiting for their first dose, despite the fact that a vaccination mandate will be applied in about a month.
The latest figures provided to the Australian Federation of Nurses and Midwives (ANMF) suggest that 61% of workers, or 170,000 of 276,910 staff, received their first dose. About 41% received both doses.
It’s a significant improvement at this time last month, while about 43.4% had received their first dose.
But the rates remain low in some individual installations, such as the private RFBI Hawkins Masonic Village in Newcastle, where less than a third of the staff received a first dose. The facility is one of 24 currently experiencing an epidemic.
Elderly caregivers were initially included in the highest priority phase of the vaccine rollout, which the government said would be completed within six weeks of the start of the rollout in February.
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization describe healthcare workers and elderly care workers as “the most important group to prioritize … because they are doing work of critical importance and beneficial to society”.
But the program has been marred by confusion, delay, broken promises and lack of access to vaccines for older caregivers.
“The really disappointing thing, and it seems almost futile to say it more, but it had to be done four months ago, the workforce,” ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler told Guardian Australia.
Aged Care Matters director Dr Sarah Russell said the public should be kept informed of nursing homes for the elderly with outbreaks, saying they are exposure sites.
Russell described the rollout of the vaccine to the elderly as a “national disgrace” and said staff continued to introduce the virus into facilities.
“In February, Minister Hunt announced that all staff and residents would be vaccinated within six weeks by handy vaccination staff,” Russell told Guardian Australia. “He did not honor his word.
The union and industry say there has been recent progress in improving access to vaccines for workers. Handy workplace vaccinations are underway, and Butler said pop-up hubs are helping to vaccinate staff.
The use of both handy vaccinations and pop-up hubs, although promised, has been considerably delayed in the early stages of deployment.
Patricia Sparrow, chief executive of leading agency Aged & Community Services Australia, said it was “no secret” that the initial vaccination program left the sector “much more exposed than it should be. ‘to be”.
“Our workers should have received the jab at their workplace earlier this year, as was originally planned,” Sparrow told Guardian Australia. “The program would already be over. “
But she said there were some promising signs. The availability of vaccines and places for elderly caregivers to receive the vaccine has improved, she said.
“But the distribution must prioritize essential caregivers for the elderly, including those who support people living in their homes, to ensure the best possible protection for all,” said Sparrow.
Commonwealth data collection is based on reports from the Elderly Care Services, both for the number of cases and vaccination rates.
The vaccination mandate due to be introduced next month will be based on public health orders issued by various states and territories.
Goalkeeper Australia revealed last month that state governments still had not taken these orders. The Morrison government had also announced the vaccine’s mandate before conducting a risk assessment, examining the impact of such a requirement on workforce and continuity of care.
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