CONNECTICUT – As the state moves exhaled from Phase 1a to 1b of its coronavirus vaccine deployment plan, it’s worth pausing for a moment to ask, “Does it work?”
Getting the medicine in the arms of nursing home residents and staff of long-term care institutions, as well as health workers in the first line, was the primary goal in Phase 1a. Nursing homes were hit hardest by the virus early in the pandemic because it was a perfect storm of susceptibility: a community environment for the elderly. What kind of relief can be expected if the pivot point after phase 1b (jabs for 75-year-olds and older) is in full swing?
According to the information made available by the State Department of Public Health, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in nursing homes went into free fall around the beginning of January, and it was about the same as the drug’s implementation in those communities. More than 64,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered to residents and workers in nursing homes in January, according to the Department of Public Health.
This is good news, but it’s still a coincidence for the glass-empty crowd.
To get public health forwards a look at their world a few weeks or sometimes a few months into the future, they paid a lot of attention to Israel. The rollout was done with enviable military efficiency and speed. Due to the smaller size of the country and the willingness to pay the highest dollar for the medicine, it is not surprising that there were fewer twists in the supply chain.
What do we know about the Israelites watching? Pfizer’s vaccine is about 92 percent effective, which was expected around the disease control and prevention centers, based on the drug’s accelerated trials. We also learned that people who have both received their vaccine shots develop more antibodies to the disease than patients with COVID-19 – but give it some time. Clalit, Israel’s largest health maintenance organization, reports that people would test positive just five to twelve days after receiving their first dose than people who have not been vaccinated. After two weeks, the number dropped by 33 percent. The benefits for Israeli patients begin about three days later than what Pfizer reported in its Phase 3 trials last year.
On January 28, 299,876 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered and another 64,379 second doses for a total of 364,255 vaccinations in Connecticut. Although it is not Israel, the state is the fourth fastest per capita to get the regrettably scarce vaccine out the door.
Although the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in nursing homes here may decrease at the beginning of vaccination of the vaccine, the number of deaths caused by the disease is strong (see graph). With 258 deaths in the COVID-19 nursing home in just the first three weeks of January, Connecticut nursing homes are about as statistically fatal as being at the onset of the pandemic.
The DPH’s weekly nursing home report uses data submitted to the National Healthcare Safety Network, which reflects the number of cases and deaths associated with COVID-19 that have occurred among residents and staff over the past week. CT DPH started reporting NHSN data from 17 June. Summary data for residents were declared on July 15 and again on July 21 again based on the false positive results detected this week. Due to the different data collection and processing methods between NHSN and the data sources previously used, DPH does not add the data before and after rebalancing due to the possibility of duplication of cases and deaths under previous and current data.
You can navigate the table page-by-page with the arrow at the top right, or search for information using the tool at the top left of the maps:
* Three Rivers Healthcare is permanently closed on September 30, 2020.
** Cassena Care of New Britain is permanently closed on 19 December 2020.
*** Meridian Manor is permanently closed on January 7, 2021
The DPH must report to Connecticut residential facilities on the impact of COVID-19 on their residents and staff through the Long Term Care Mutual Aid Plan (LTC-MAP) web-based reporting system. This report is intended to reflect recent COVID-19 activities in assistance facilities.
The CT DPH Weekly Relief Report uses data submitted to LTC-MAP, which reflects the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths that have occurred among residents and staff over the past week.
CT DPH started reporting LTC-MAP data on COVID-19 resident mortality data on 8 July 2020. Due to the different data collection and processing methods between LTC-MAP and the death sources previously used, the cumulative death data for residents was reused 14 July 2020. The residents’ death data before and after 14 July should not be added due to the different definitions of COVID-19 associated deaths used and the possibility of duplication of deaths under previous and current data.
You can navigate the table page-by-page with the arrow at the top right, or search for information using the tool at the top left of the maps: